A Twisted Strawhat
by Gmann
Summary: This story follows a Luffy that was severely abused at a young age and is mentally scared. The Strawhat Captain will be less forgiving to his enemies and won't take prisoners. Stronger crew members and new crew members alike will form the most fearsome band of pirates in history. Luffy isn't OP but he's pretty damn close. Stronger Luffy!/ Genius Luffy!/ Swordsman Luffy! LuffyxRobin
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

Wake up. Go through hell. Black out. Repeat.

This daily routine had been going on for longer than the child could remember. He lost track around day 5, although it could have been 5 years. Rarely did the young boy ever have a quiet moment to rest, unless he could trick his capture that he was still unconscious from pain. Truth was Luffy had stopped feeling pain after his trip through the fire.

"Luffy I know you are awake."

Luffy tried desperately not to make a move. He willed himself to breathe normally. Just 5 more minutes of peace is all he asked. Was that so much. Day in and out, nothing but numbness and pain. A sharp jab with what he assumed was a knife remind him of this. That was child's play though compare to what he had been through.

"You can't trick me Luffy," the warped man said while pulling out more instruments of torture. "Today is going to be so fun."

Today? Was it a new day? Luffy was woken up sporadically so who knew. Being underground didn't exactly help either. Luffy was pretty sure that he had gotten night vision from being down here so long.

"Whoosh!"

Dang it he was already starting the fire. It was basically the only that could still elicit a response from him. The many, many, burns all around his body proved that point all too well. He hated fire more than anything in the world. Not fear, just hate. Although, today all those wounds would come in handy.

"You know I love you don't you," asked the grey haired sicko who was currently staring into the fire pit.

Luffy wasn't that far gone as to think that. He knew what love was for a fact. Ace, Sabo, Dadan, Makino, Shanks, even Gramps loved him. Stockholm syndrome wasn't about to cloud his mine. That was the only place he felt truly alone and truly safe. His mine had become a fortress of solitude where he usually resided. The thinking that use to be hard slowly became thinking was clear as a window and razor sharp. It wasn't the only thing that was razor sharp.

The doctor had finally slipped up. Two days ago while Luffy was unshackled from the wall, he picked up a discarded surgeon knife from the floor. Thinking quickly, the boy hid the knife deep in one of his wounds and prayed it wouldn't be seen. So far so good.

The man who went by "doctor" walked over to Luffy and began to unshackle him.

"You know Luffy it's a special day," the doctor started while he unlocked the last cuff. "This day mar-." That was all he ever got out.

A gurgle noise came from the doctor as his windpipe was cut to sherds by the raven haired boy. A cut to the eye, mouth, nose, scalp, everywhere. After one last thrust of the knife, Luffy sat down in a pool of blood breathing heavily. Looking at the man beside him almost made him want to throw up. Not because he got sick at the sight of blood but the fact it was this man's blood. Just touching it was like handling acid.

Getting up from the floor, Luffy began to walk towards the exit of the cellar/basement/torture chamber, looking back one last time he walked out the room. A long corridor connected the door to the flight of stairs ahead. Time to leave.

Speed walking now, Luffy made it up the stairs to the trap door. As he opened the door slowly, light began to stream into the hallway. It almost burned out the retinas of the bloody boy. Although it sure felt good to feel the golden warmth on his pale, rubbery skin. He almost glowed as he walked into the two room house. Six months in the dark slowly melting away.

Looking around for a certain object, Luffy started to become a little nervous. He needed this more than anything.

Then like a beacon of hope, he saw it reflecting off a hat rack. Smiling forming on his lips, Luffy walked to the rack and plucked the possession from its perch. Even though the straw hat was too large for his head, it still fit better than a glove to him.

"Nice to have you back old friend," he said with such warmth it was like he was talking to a family member. Finally feeling right, Luffy opened the front door and walked out.

Walking toward Makino's bar, Luffy made a vow to become smarter and stronger. To become someone that isn't just capable of protecting himself but also the ones he loves. To never let his freedom be taken away again. To be the freest of all men.

To be the Pirate King.

It was late afternoon when Luffy casually walked into Makino's bar. The women had been sweeping when she heard the door open and close. Looking up and seeing the sight in front of the door almost gave the poor girl a heart attack. Immediately she ran toward the child, dropping everything she might have been holding, and embraced him tightly. The crying soon followed in loud sops.

Luffy embraced her back but did not cry, for he had no more tears to give.

They held each other for a long time. Makino being happy to have Luffy back. To know he was safe. Luffy being happy to finally have some familiar company.

* * *

 **A/N:** The beginning starts one year after Sabo is "killed". A few things will be changed from the canon, most notably Luffy's intelligence and fighting style. Also Luffy is a lot less trusting and naive, instead having cool head most of the time. His reading and power of discernment is on par with Robin. He will be serious with everyone except his crew, which is when he will be a bit more cheerful. Luffy already has observation and conquerors Haki. He will develop armament Haki around the Water 7 arc or sooner if I feel like it. If you have any more questions please ask in the comments.

The crew is going to get a huge power boost too. Not just the monster trio either.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews and follows. There were multiple complaints about my grammar, so I tried really hard to make sure this chapter had fewer mistakes. Also, some have asked if anyone was looking for Luffy when he went missing. Of course everyone was looking for him, including Garp. The reason they couldn't find him will be revealed later. Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.

Italic shows thinking by the way.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

Luffy looked out over the small village from a spot on the cliff. He let it all soak into him like a sponge in water. This would possibly be the last time he ever got to look at his hometown, so he might as well take a good long one.

Already having said goodbye to Dadan and the mountain bandits, Luffy jumped from the top of the cliff. It was so much easier than walking and it wasn't like it was going to kill him or anything. Landing with a soft thud, he sprinted the rest of the way down the mountain, eventually coming into the small town. Luffy looked around the empty streets and houses, smiling like mad.

 _Everyone must already be at the docks to send me off._

Walking around the town was a nice trip through memory lane until he walked upon a certain house that hadn't been used in a very long time. Smile faltering, Luffy looked at the house he had been prisoner in so many years ago. He still held the mental and physical scars the "doctor" had caused.

The physical scars were the easiest to fix. The teen had made sure to wear clothes that would cover everything from roving eyes: a red jack (similar to Gold Roger's) over a black T, midnight black jeans with a belt through the loops, black steel toe boots, and black leather gloves with the fingers cut out. On the belt was strapped 3 kunai knives, a dagger with a blade made from sea stone, and in a side holster was his dragon (also called a blunderbuss).

And of course he had Shanks' straw hat adorning his head like a crown.

Finally making his way to the docks, Luffy started to see all the smiling faces there to bid him farewell. It brought a genuine smile to his face, an event that was rare nowadays. Jumping onto the boat with a bag of supplies, he turned and looked at the gathering of towns folk.

"Goodbye everyone! Look for me in the papers!" Luffy then untied the boat holding him to the docks. The crowed erupted in cheering and waving. Makino, who was standing next to the mayor, smiled and waved.

"I will be the King of the Pirates!"

This brought up yet another wave of cheering and words of luck (none came from the mayor who was still angry about having another criminal stem from the town) as Luffy slowly drifted away from view.

It was at this time the local sea king rose from the sea to end Luffy's dream before it even began. The sea king was in for a surprise. Luffy, who acted like he didn't notice the sea king, turned and hit it with a backhand.

"Bye fishy!"

This was cause for even more cheering from the crowd that slowly faded into the distance away from view. Since there was nothing else to do, Luffy decided to go through some of the wanted posters for the East Blue. It could be good to know what he was up against if he were to encounter one of these pirates. Every now and then, Luffy would look up and check the location to make sure the boat was still on course.

After a while, Luffy began to notice a slight change in pressure and boat speed. Thinking quickly, he rowed the boat in a wide circle to avoid whatever was causing the trouble. Eventually he did see a whirlpool to the far right, but by then he was far enough so as to not get sucked in. That was close. With the excitement over, Luffy sat back with a book about certain types of devil fruits. Too bad the peace didn't last long.

A passenger ship was not too far off and being the friendly guy he was, Luffy decided to wave at it. The ship hands on deck smiled and waved back to the odd looking kid. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Luffy got a bad vibe from a small island about a mile away. Looking closely at the patch of land, he was sure something was not right.

His thoughts were confirmed when an ugly, pink ship appeared from behind the island in question.

"Pirates are here!" The crew on board the passenger vessel visibly lost their shit.

Looking closely, Luffy recognized Alvida's flag. This would be a good time to see the results of all the training he'd done. He had to start somewhere.

Luffy waited until the Alvida's ship had boarded the passenger ship before tying his boat to the passenger. Then jumping into the air, Luffy went into one of the open window, turns out it was a kitchen. Also turns out that someone was already in this room.

The person was a small boy with pink hair trying and failing to turn a barrel on its side. As soon as Luffy landed on the floor, the boy screamed and unabashedly shook with fear. Trying to defuse the situation, Luffy put his hands up in an effort to come off as nonthreatening, which was difficult.

"Hey, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm just passing through." Luffy almost felt bad for the guy. "Are you a passenger? Because this ship is kinda getting raided."

The kid seemed to have calmed down enough to talk. "Actually I'm w-with Alvida," the kid stuttered out. Man, pirates were getting younger everyday. Before anymore could be said, three burly guys walked in.

"Hey, Coby, what's taking you so- who the heck is this?" Coby was instantly back to shaking again.

"Hello fellas, can you point me to the pantry; I'm crazy hungry." To be honest, Luffy really didn't want to tap into his own food reserves yet.

"Who do you think you are? Die punk!" The thugs jumped at him with swords drawn. Pure foolishness. Luffy kicked the first one in the chest, sending the man flying backwards at amazing speeds into the other two. The trio went crashing out of the room, first through the pantry, then the engine room, and finally out of the ship. Cool, he finally found where the food was kept.

Walking like nothing had even happened, Luffy walked out the room and through the hole that led to the pantry. Coby, who had shat himself by now, followed Luffy into the room. When he got there, he found Luffy on the floor eating apples.

"Who are you," asked Coby, now very interested in the man before him. Luffy turned around and swallowed.

"Hello again. Coby was it? My name is Monkey D. Luffy, the man that will be the King of the Pirates." The straw hat knew that stating his dream would most likely elicit a negative response, but he didn't care.

"What? Being King of the Pirates means attaining everything in this world. It means being the strongest, finding the legendary One Piece! It simply isn't possible; it can't be..."

"Coby. Silence." Luffy unknowingly let out a small burst of conquers haki. Coby didn't say anything after that, in fact, he almost wet himself. "Listen, Coby, no one has ever accomplished anything by second guessing and giving up before the going even gets rough. I know that this won't be an easy journey and I'm prepared to die for my dream if need be because that's okay. I will have died happy and with a smile on my face. Could you say you would be satisfied with how your life has gone so far, Coby? Could you die today and be happy with your life?"

Coby had no idea what to say. Of course he wouldn't be happy. Day end and day out was a constant nightmare, not to mention he had yet to fulfill his dream.

"Two years ago I got on a boat to go fishing and it turned out to belong to Alvida. Ever since then, in exchange for my life, I have been working as a cabin boy. It's always been my dream to become a marine and hunt bad guys! To catch Alvida! Do you think I could do that?" Coby looked at Luffy hopefully for an answer.

 _Everyone thinks that marines are all freaking heroes. Ha! This kid is going to get a rude awakening one day._

"I can't decide that for you Coby; only you can choose to have the guts to follow your dreams," Luffy said with a neutral face. He might have added something if it was not for the sudden instinct to stretch his arm out and pull Coby towards his body. A second later the ceiling above them collapsed right where the pink haired boy was standing moments ago.

"What was that about becoming a marine and catching me?" asked Alvida in all her glory. She sent the boy a death glare through the smoke, face red with anger. After three of her crew didn't come back, she suspected that something was up. Worst case scenario was Pirate Hunter Zoro was here to take her head, although it appeared she had lucked out. It was just Coby spouting nonsense with a weird looking guy. Still, she should probably be careful.

"I thought you might be Pirate Hunter Zoro, but I guess not."

"Hello 'Iron Mace' Alvida," Luffy said calmly, still sitting crosslegged on the floor. "Do you mind if I take Coby over there with me," he said slightly jerking his head in Coby's direction. The teenager knew it was a long shot, but maybe she would go for it. It's not like the pink haired boy was worth anything to her.

A smile came to Alvida's lips. "Coby doesn't want to leave such a beautiful woman behind though. Right, Coby?" The fat woman turned her face towards the young boy, looking for the answer she always got.

 _Com'on, Coby, let her have it!_ _Don't live your life in fear._

"Alvida is..." Coby faltered a bit, but then looked up with cold determination. "Alvida is the fattest, ugliest, oldest sea hag to ever grace the East Blue!"

 _Good job kid._

The pirate crew above them stared in fear and disbelief. But Alvida's face was priceless.

"You bastard! Ill kill you where you stand!" Coby closed his eyes and waited for the fatal blow. All he got was the feeling of going through a wind tunnel for a brief second. Opening his eyes, Coby now saw he was standing on the deck of the ship next to Luffy.

The pirates on deck all drew their swords in fear at the man who had moved faster than anything should. Luffy just yawned. One brave sole tried to jump from the mast and get him from above. This course of action resulted in Luffy moving one inch to the left, effectively side stepping the attack, and shooting out a fist which connected to the man's face mid air, sending him flying out of sight. Launching forward, clothes-lining two guys in the process, Luffy jumped high in the air, and used the momentum from the descent to drop kick another through the ship and into the sea.

By this time, Alivda finally made her way out the pantry onto the deck, only to see that her crew had beaten a hasty retreat back to the ship. If you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself. "You know, you have some nerve kid, but it ends here." Alvida raised her mace.

 _Wow, such slow_ _movements. Is it even possible to be this wide open?_

But then something unexpected happened. Alvida spun slightly on her heels, re aiming the blow to be on Coby's head instead. Acting fast, Luffy moved Coby out the way and took the full force of the blow, feet slightly sinking into the wood from the force. The obese woman smirked.

"I knew if I went for Coby you would sacrifice yourself." Coby couldn't believe the man was dead before he even began his journey. It seemed wrong on a fundamental level.

"Shishishi! That won't work."

Before Alvida could process what was happening or why her attack hadn't even made a difference, Luffy's fist was already buried so deep in her fat that his knuckles were touching her spine. Lights out. The woman was sent flying into the sky out of sight.

Turning to face the now captain-less crew, Luffy smiled. "You guys mind if I take this guy?" he said pointing at Coby. A chorus of no's followed. Luffy grabbed Coby by the torso and hopped onto his boat that was still tied to the passenger ship. Sensing something was amiss, Luffy turned around to see an orange haired girl in a boat next to his. The two locked eyes before cannon fire started splashing water up to block the view they shared.

"Time to go Coby," Luffy said rowing away while the marines were busy subduing the ship. After a while, everything faded from view, leaving nothing but the wide expanse of ocean for scenery.

"Hey, Luffy, how did you survive that hit from Alvida?" Coby asked with genuine curiosity.

"Oh, did I forget to say? I became a rubber man after eating the Gum Gum fruit," responded Luffy like it was the most normal thing in the world. After seeing the look on Coby's face, he explained more. "The Gum Gum fruit is a paramecia type devil fruit." Coby still looked slightly confuse but Luffy wasn't going to waste this trip explaining devil fruits.

"Coby, you wouldn't know where I could find this Zoro guy would you?"

"He is being kept at the marine base where we are headed. Why?"

"Just wanted to know." After uttering these words Luffy grabbed a book from the supplies he had with him and began to read. Looking up from the book, Luffy saw that Coby was causally looking around with nothing to do but twiddle his thumbs. Sighing, Luffy handed him a book on devil fruits and turned his attention back to his own book.

The two read as the ocean moved around them.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** This fanfic has been getting lots of views; hope I don't disappoint. This chapter is almost all dialogue, sorry about that. You will see a lot of changes from the cannon in this chapter and in this whole fan fiction in general. The way I see it, if you're going to follow the cannon almost exactly, then what's even the point? Also, I'm currently looking for a beta reader, so if you know anyone or you are one, PM me. Last thing, if you know anyone on deviant art who can draw the Luffy I portrayed that would be great.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

"It seems we are almost at the navy base Coby."

Coby looked at him and frowned. "You should be more concerned Luffy. This navy base is where they are holding Pirate Hunter Zoro, the man likened to a blood thirsty demon." Coby seemed a bit shaken, but Luffy wasn't worried. Mostly just confused that a pirate hunter would be held at a navy base like a criminal. Sure, bounty hunters and the government didn't exactly see eye to eye, but it was not like they were breaking the law. Something else was going on.

"Hey, Coby, if you ever see Garp, tell him... tell him I'm sorry."

Cobys' eyes widened in shock that Luffy knew Garp the Hero, much less had some sort of personal history with the man. Of course he wanted more information, but the teenager's body language clearly told Coby that he didn't want to expand on the subject. In fact, he appeared to have completely shut out the world for now.

After a few minutes of silence, they reached the docks of their destination. Luffy tied the boat to the board walk and walked into the town with Coby. It seemed like a normal enough place to him, nothing standing out suspiciously.

"Well, Coby it looks like it is time for us to part ways now. I may have to cause some trouble, and I don't want to hurt your chance of becoming a marine." Luffy liked Coby, but he would get in the way if there was some sort of fight. Also, it would be less he had to worry about; he didn't want his friend getting hurt.

"Oh, ok then Luffy, thank you for everything you have done for me. You truly are the greatest friend I ever had."

"Take care of yourself kid," Luffy replied, walking in the direction of the navy base. Coby followed because he also had business with the navy. The pair walked in silence all the way to the gate. It was then Luffy remembered an important question he had neglected to ask.

"Coby, who is the captain of this base?" He made a silent prayer that it wouldn't be Smoker. That would complicate things.

"Axe Hand Morgan."

As soon as the words left Coby's mouth, several people in the street jumped in fear. That wasn't a very good sign, but it didn't surprise Luffy at all. It wasn't like the navy was so infallible as to not have some corruption or intimidation. Heck, some marines were worst than gang leaders. All of this seemed to fly right over Coby's head though, leaving him in a state of confusion.

"Why did they get scared?" asked Coby, more to himself than to anyone else.

Out of the corner of his eye, Luffy saw a little girl climbing over the wall. Taking an interest, he walked over to the wall to see how things were working out for her. He hoisted himself on the wall just in time for the show.

"You're supposed to use salt not sugar!"

"But I thought they would taste better." The poor girl was in tears by now. It also didn't help that the blond bastard was now stomping on the rice balls.

Some movement behind Luffy caused him to shift focus to whomever was beside him. He wasn't very surprised to see it was Coby trying to see over the wall.

"What's going on?" questioned Coby. Before Luffy could respond, he noticed that one of the marines had picked up the girl and proceeded to toss her over the wall. Acting fast, the teen jump from his perch and caught the girl mid air before she could hit the ground, then summersaulting, Luffy landed on his feet.

 _Damn the marines! They will pay._

Luffy sat the girl down carefully as Coby ran over to them to make sure everyone was ok.

"Are you ok little one?" asked Luffy.

The girl nodded, still looking crestfallen over the situation.

"Hey, whats your name," inquired Luffy, trying to lighten the mood.

"Rika."

"Ok then Rika, Coby will take you back to your home now."

Coby helped Rika up and started walking towards the inner town. After he realized Luffy had not followed, he turned and gave a questioning look.

"I'll catch up Coby!"

Before anything else could be said, Luffy jumped over the wall into the execution yard. Looking around, he saw that the marines had left already. Oh well, he would punish them later.

Turning his head, Luffy noticed a man tied to a post in the middle of the execution yard.

"Oi! You Zoro?" Luffy said this with a bit of a hopeful tone in his voice.

"What's it to you?"

"I was looking for a crew member and thought you might be perfect." Luffy figured getting a crew mate would be more dificult than just asking, but why not try, right?

"Why would I join you? What could I possibly gain? Get lost pirate."

Luffy was impressed that Zoro figured out that he was a pirate without being told. Then again, it wasn't very hard to guess with him recruiting and what not. Luffy decided to go a different angle with this.

"Why are you out here Zoro? Bounty hunting is not a crime."

"I have to stay here for one month. I overcome this challenge and then I leave."

"I could never do that. I would go crazy."

"Thats because I've got more spirit than you."

"Maybe you are right. Personally though, I would rather die than to have my freedom taken away. Even for one month."

Even though Zoro disagreed, he could still respect what the man believed.

"Even though you didn't answer my question, I won't press it. How about this, if you can beat me in a fight, I'll leave you alone. But if I win, you join my crew."

"Hmm, have it your way then, but when I win, you have to leave me alone." Zoro said with a deadly smirk.

"I look forward to it." Luffy started to walk off; Zoro called out to him. He asked Luffy to feed him a very sad looking rice ball that rested on the ground. Doing as he was requested, Luffy feed him and once again started to walk away.

"Tell the girl it was delicious."

Smiling, Luffy exited the Navy base. That smile disappeared as soon as he went inside the bar where Coby and the girl were waiting.

"I've been getting pretty bored lately, so I decided to execute Zoro tomorrow. Don't miss it."

It was the same bastard marine that ordered the girl to be thrown. Luffy would have loved to pound his face in, but his smarter side told him that might cause some trouble later. _Can't afford to jump the gun._

Luffy walked over to where Coby and Rika were sitting.

"Outside," he commanded. The two followed him out the back and waited for him to speak.

"Ok Rika, why has Zoro been strung up?"

Tears started to form around Rika's eyes. "He only got arrested because he was protecting us from Helmeppo's pet wolf. The he got strung up in our place." Seeing as Luffy was confused, she continued. "Helmeppo is the guy you just saw; he's Captain Morgan's son."

"I see. I will be back guys; this might take a few minutes."

Luffy disappeared from sight and reappeared next to the navy base a few moments later.

 _Hmm, my soru is improving. Still too slow for my taste though._

Not caring if anyone saw, Luffy walked into the execution yard through the front gate and right up to Zoro. Luffy took out his dagger and cut Zoro lose from his bindings.

"What the hell are you doing? I only have 10 days left!"

The straw hat gave an irritated sigh; explanations were never his strong suit.

"Helmeppo is going to kill you tomorrow. I have other plans."

A look of shock appeared on the swordsman face. Zoro was very dismayed at the thought that he could have been killed. He wouldn't even have come close to his promise to become the world's greatest swordsman. This pirate who didn't know him from a random stranger had saved his life and dream.

"I owe you my life," Zoro said with resolve.

"Don't mention it, really."

"No. I never forget a debt or a favor someone has done for me. As of today I am one of your crew members, a pirate. My dream is to be the worlds greatest swordsman. As long as you never interfere with that, we will be good."

"The king of the pirates would have nothing less than the greatest swordsman; welcome aboard Zoro." This was great. Luffy couldn't help but smile at the thought.

Looking Zoro up and down, he realized something was wrong.

"Where are your swords dude?"

A deep scowl appeared on the swordsman face.

"That marine guy took them and I don't know where."

Looks like they would have to infiltrate the base. Now the only question was should they barge in guns blazing or sneak in like ninjas. Screw it, it's not like anyone actually strong is there thought Luffy.

"Well I guess we should get them back then. First, it would be a good idea to find Blonde and make him talk,but he could be anywhere."

As if on cue, Helmmpo strolled into the yard. Lucky them.

"Zoro, time for your next beating...um what's going on her?" To say Helmeppo was perplexed would be an understatement. The two marines with him were slow to bring up their rifles. Too slow. Within the blink of an eye, the pair of marines were already on the ground taking a dirt nap.

Zoro turned to see what his new captain had done. The only clue he got was Luffy holding a handful of bullets. There was no way he could have thrown bullets hard enough to knock out full grown men, right?

"Hello buddy," Luffy said with a fake smile. "You wouldn't mind telling us where Zoros swords are, right?"

"N-n-n-"

"Great! Now do we need to 'escort' you, or can you walk on your own.

"I-I-I can-"

"Even better! Better not delay, onward." With that said, Luffy walked over to the unconscious marines and threw them in a bush to deter suspicion. Then he slapped Morgan's son on the back to get him in gear and started walking towards the base.

When they reached the doors, two marines stopped them and asked what they were doing. Helmeppo dismissed their concerns saying they were friends of his. He reminded every one who his father was and walked in with his new "pals".

"Good job Blondie, now take us to your room. Stop sweating so much, I'm not going to hurt you as long as you don't try anything."

After a few more minutes, Helmeppo finally stopped outside a room and walked in. It looked like a 6 year old girl's dream.

"O-o-over there," sputtered Helmeppo who was pointing to 3 swords in the corner.

"Good boy. Now you get to take a nap." Before the words could be processed, Luffy pistol whipped Helmeppo in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.

Zoro grabbed his swords and walked out the room with Luffy. After shutting the door, they began to walk off. In opposite directions.

"Wait, which way are you going?" Asked Luffy who was now confused

"Left. Why?"

"No reason I guess." Luffy was a bit startled that he got turned around, but it happened. Good thing Zoro was here.

* * *

 **A few minutes later**

"I think we went the wrong way."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well first, we are on the roof. Second, there is a giant statue. And third, marines are currently pointing their guns at us."

Said marines were currently shaking with fear and doubt. The fact that neither of the men looked worried was bothersome. Plus, one of them was Roanoa Zoro, the demon.

"Execute them now! They are trespassing on Navy property. Kill them now!"

 _I could use conquer's haki, but I'm not very good with control. Better go with bullet storm instead._

Quickly going into his pocket, Luffy acquired the necessary amount of bullets, focused in on the marines position, and started the attack. This took less than a second in real time.

"Bullet storm!"

He flicked all the bullets in his hand in rapid succession. Luffy didn't fire them fast enough to kill, just enough to make sure they wouldn't be a problem.

"Worthless idiots. I guess I'll have to kill you my self."

The man Luffy assumed must be Captain Morgan started to run at him.

"Onigiri!"

Lunging forward with three swords drawn, Zoro cut the marine captain in the torso with a style Luffy had never seen before. It would be interesting to spar later.

"Nice one"

"Just doing my job captain."

"Well, let's go."

Luffy wrapped an arm around Zoro and jump off the roof, all the while laughing his head off. Zoro, on the other hand, didn't know Luffy was rubber, so to him this was a death move.

"Gum Gum Balloon!"

When Zoro, who completely expected a face full of dirt, landed on a soft rubber cushion instead, it was the second time that day he had almost suffered a heart attack. But before he could compose himself, he flung into the air and landed with a thud on the ground.

Luffy retracted his stomach before the multiple scars became visible to anyone. Looking around, he spotted Zoro on the other side of the gate face down. Another fit of laughter was started.

"Com'on, Zoro let's go." Luffy made his way to the swordsman and nudged him a little. "Zoro?" Feeling his pulse, he found it shockingly weak.

 _Dang it. I forgot he hasn't eaten in weeks_

After throwing Zoro over his back, Luffy ran to Rika's bar.

* * *

 **Later**

"Yep, that's what happened."

Luffy had been retelling the story for hours to interested patrons of how he had beaten the tyrannical Captain Morgan. Zoro took the opportunity to stuff his face.

"Dang, Zoro, learn to chew."

"You have no room to talk hypocrite! You've eaten more than me and never once used your teeth. And at least I have an excuse."

"Whatever man," said Luffy in between sips of coffee.

"So what are you going to do now Luffy," asked Coby.

"Get some more crew members and head for the Grand Line. What about you Coby? You still going to be a marine after everything you saw here?"

"Well, the way I see it Luffy, you can't judge a whole group of people off one person. I used to think all pirates were evil, but then I met you. So yes, I will still be a marine."

As if on cue, the marines walked into the bar all official like. They surrounded the bar and emerged through the crowd that was surrounding Luffy.

"Are you the one who broke into the navy base, kidnapped Helmmpo, and defeated Captain Morgan?"

"Yep. Me and my old buddy Zoro."

Luffy wasn't intimidated. If these marines wanted round 2 then by all means let them try.

"Then you have my sincerest thanks," the marine said bowing his head. "Without you, Morgan might have reined over us forever; there is nothing we could ever do to repay you. Now my next question, are y'all pirates, because if so, I must ask you to leave."

What the heck? First praise, then random threats? Marines sure were bipolar at times.

"Ya, we are pirates. Let's go Zoro."

Wordlessly, Zoro followed Luffy outside the bar and the pair began walking to the docks. After getting in, the two untied the boat and started drifting away.

"Luffy! Thank you! I will never forget all you have done for me! You are my greatest friend!"

"Humph. Pirates being thanked by a marine, eh? That is unheard of," said Zoro good-naturedly.

With that, Coby saluted Luffy and much to his surprise, so did all the marines in the town. The pair leaving, smiled and waved back until they drifted from sight.

"This is great. My journey to become pirate king has finally begun."

"Pirate king?"

"Yeah. I made a promise to the man who gave me this straw hat. I **will** be pirate king one day."

Zoro smiled at the ambition that was so similar to his own. Sitting back, they fell into a peaceful silence, letting the waves be their guide.

* * *

 **A/N:** Yes, Luffy does know about the six powers. He is not a master by any means though. Just like he knows about haki but hasn't mastered it, Luffy can only actively use two of the six powers effectively. Finger pistol and soru. Also if you're wondering about bullet storm, it works by Luffy using a form of finger pistol on the bullets, sending them flying at high speeds. I haven't forgotten about Luffy's devil fruit powers ether like some of you might think. The only reason he isn't using his regular attacks right now is because he would consider it to easy. Plus he is trying to improve his haki and six powers technics before the Grand Line. Sorry there wasn't a Luffy vs Zoro fight in the chapter. I briefly considered it but this chapter was already pretty long. Sorry to dis

If I missed anything ask me in the comments. Gmann out.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I am back with another chapter. Thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed. Good news! I finally got a beta reader, so chapters should be coming out much more often. His pen name is shinxshinx1595. Big thanks to him. I was alerted that there was some confusion on what Luffy's dragon is. Dragon is the other name for a blunderbuss. I thought I said that in the first chapter but maybe it wasn't clear.

Enjoy.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

"Hey Luffy?"

"Yea."

"How did you do that bullet storm thing from before? Those bullets were moving pretty fast."

"Oh that? I have strong fingers." Luffy could almost feel the face palm Zoro did.

"What about that thing where you inflated your body?"

"Oh, I'm a rubber man. I ate the Gum Gum fruit."

Zoro just sighed at the information. What type of crazy captain was he following. Before now, he didn't even know devil fruits were real.

A strong gust of wind went by, taking Luffy's hat with it. Without even thinking he stretched an arm out and snatched it back before it blew away.

"Phew! That was close," he said placing the hat on his head. "Oi, Zoro, are you feeling a bit peckish?"

Luffy wasn't personally hungry, but then again he didn't exactly get hungry very often. But he did love to eat though. It was one if his greatest passions.

"I'm a bit hungry, you got something to eat?"

"I'm sorry my friend, it appears we ran out yesterday. I have a fishing rod if you want try catching something. We could take turns."

"You're the boss," replied Zoro picking up the rod.

After a few minutes nothing had been caught. Without anything else to do, Luffy struck up the ancient art of conversation.

"Sooo," Luffy began awkwardly, "when did you begin your journey?"

"I left a few years ago in search of a certain man and never found my way back home."

"Jeez dude, I'll never take directions from you ever again. I mean could you really could not just ask where the island was located. Shishishi! Shishishi!"

A grumpy scowl appeared on Zoro's face. He turned back towards the sea, looking pretty angry.

"Hey, look at that Zoro, a bird," announced Luffy, trying to change the subject.

"Yea, so what?"

"Well, for sailors, birds usually signify an island is nearby. We are currently out of food so let's follow it. If it leads us to an island with a town then we get to buy some food. Grab an ore and get rowing."

This was good enough for Zoro, so he started rowing and catching up with the avian. Dang, that bird was quick though.

"Hey Zoro, I pretty sure there are some people in front of us." In front of the boat were three people dressed like clowns in the process of drowning.

"Help us, please!"

Why now of all times?

"Ok, just get in while were moving!" The three oddly dressed guys clambered into boat like their life depended on it. Most likely because it did. After getting on, the trio gasped for air trying to catch their breath. After they recovered from the near death experience and were in no immediate peril, their sights got set on the two owners of the boat.

"You idiots almost killed us!"

Talk about ungrateful. Didn't bother Luffy much though, he was more interested in why they looked like clowns. In fact they remind him of a certain pirate he saw in the wanted posters.

"We are pirates under captain Buggy, now this boat is ours punk."

That was it! Buggy the Clown was a devil fruit eater. Paramecia to be sure, although he wasn't positive which one it was. It could be a passive like his, Buggy was probably know as "Buggy the Immortal" for a reason. Most likely it wouldn't be a destructive one like say Whitebeard for instance. So deep in thought, Luffy nearly didn't notice the swords being pointed at him.

"Hey now, someone might get hurt," voiced Luffy as he drew his dragon.

He grabbed the blade of the first one and shot the guy in the shoulder, making the clown release his grip on the hilt. Luffy then throw the sword like a throwing knife, impaling the second in the stomach. He then pulled a kumai knife from his belt and began twirling it between his figures.

"Oi, clown face. Get rowing."

Not only did the buggy pirate get rowing, he did so faster than Zoro. Heck, the guys arms were moving faster than the eyes could follow.

"Your friends will live by the way."

"Ye-y-yes sir! Thank you sir!"

Zoro gave Luffy a sideways look. He was a bit surprised that the rubber man could go from 0 to 120 in one second.

"Hey Zoro, check it out! There is the island."

"Finally I can get some booze."

After a few more minutes the boat pulled up against docks, finally at their destination, Buggy's crew member finally collapsed in a heap from exhaustion.

"They'll be fine, let's go Zoro."

"Should you leave your stuff in there with them. I mean they are pirates."

"You're right. Let's drag them into town and dump them somewhere. Or I guess we could take them to the clown himself."

"Eh? What clown?"

"Pirate Buggy the Clown. His ship was docked over there."

"Gotcha."

Zoro held two of the guys over his shoulders and Luffy had one under his arms. The town was eerily silent, almost felt like ghost lived there instead of people. There was something comfortable about the atmosphere for Luffy. Zoro couldn't care less. Cannon fire broke the serene silence, it followed by an even louder noise.

"Aaahhhh! Somebody help me," a girlish voice shrieked out.

Didn't really help the already spooky mood. Luffy cut Zoro a glance before running off in the direction of the scream. Zoro followed right behind him until the swordsman took a wrong turn into an alley way. Luffy wouldn't have time to worry about Zoro right now, that guy would be fine. Right now someone might need his help. Who knows, that person might even be his next crew mate.

Stretching out his observation haki, Luffy targeted the point of distress and ran towards it.

* * *

 **Nami POV**

She couldn't believe that they had actually caught her. These guys weren't even henchmen, they were just common goons, cannon fodder, but they still caught her. Nami had been dogging them for a while, and would have escaped to if it wasn't for a chard, blackened bird falling out the sky right in front of her path. Before the thief veteran could recovered from the mini heart attack, the goons had already caught up and tackled her to the hard pavement. The pirates grubby hands were all over her body, tying up her hands and feet, and feeling up places they shouldn't. This was probably only a taste of what they would do. Of course Nami was confident that she would be able to escape eventually, but by the way these guys were leering at her body, who knows what they would do before then. She had to make a getaway now.

"Hey Lou, I think we should take her into one of these abandon houses first before we go back to boss. Might not get another chance like this."

"Hmm, that is good thinking. Let's do it. Oh, I mean lets do her. Hehehe."

Well this was it. She had to fight now or never. As soon as she started struggling against her bonds, Nami heard a loud crack and started to see stars. This was followed by intense pain in the back of her skull. It was clear there was no getting out of this.

"Now, now, that's no way to treat a lady."

Nami wasn't entirely sure what occurred after that because her vision was blurry. All she heard was terrified screams and shouts of mercy. That all began to fade though as everything grew dark. She could no longer feel the ground beneath her, cotton lined the inside of her mouth, the world spun at high speeds. Darkness consumed everything.

When Nami woke up, she had a splitting headache. Weakly, she lifted her hand to rub the sore spot. That's when it hit her, she was no longer tied up. Those idiot pirates must have untied her when they got to their base. Fools would not even know what hit them. As she got up, Nami noticed that this was not the pirates base but the inside of a cozy home. Looking around further, she noticed a man sitting in the dinning table eating a sandwich. That was also when he noticed her.

"You got hit on the head pretty hard, probably should rest more."

"What happened to those three guys from earlier?"

"They are currently face down in the street."

That meant this guy must have taken them out. He looked kinda badass, so it seemed possible. An idea began to form.

 _Hmm, this could be a lucky break for me. If I can persuade this to partner up, I'll be rocking the Grand Line._

"Hey what's your name."

"Monkey D. Luffy."

"Do you want to team up Luffy? I'm a thief who steals from pirates, and a class A navigator. We could split all the earnings."

"What's your name?"

"Nami."

"Well, Nami, my dream is to become the pirate king, so that partnership most likely wouldn't work. You could join my crew though, we need a navigator."

"Heck no! I hate pirates, they are the scum of the earth. Forget it. The only things I love are money and tangerines, you're not either of them."

"Why do you love money?"

"Wha? I need 100,000,000 berries to buy an island." That question had taken Nami by surprise. Why was she even still talking to this guy? Oh yeah, he saved her life.

"I am headed to the Grand Line Nami. There is lots of treasure to be found in that sea, heck there is a lot of treasure in this sea if you know where to look. If you team up with me you can have all the money we make until you're able to buy your island. I'm pretty strong so you won't have to sneak around anymore like you have been. What do you say?"

Nami weighed her options. On one hand, this guy did have a pretty epic way about himself and seemed pretty strong. On the other hand, he might be the type to come after her if she crossed him. But he did say all of the treasure they found was hers if she stayed. What could be the harm if it would help her fulfill her goal faster?

"Deal." Nami stuck out a hand to confirm the verbal contract.

A wide grin appeared on Luffy's face. "Deal." He sealed the agreement with a shake.

After a few moments of silence, Luffy got up from the table and stretched.

"Well, I'm going to introduce you to your new crew mate. As soon as I find him."

With that Luffy whooshed out the door of the house, Nami following close behind. There was no way she was going to caught three feet away from this guy. No doubt Buggy had sent more pirates after the others never came back.

"I'm pretty sure Zoro is somewhere over here," voiced Luffy after a few minutes of walking. He looked around like he expected something to happen any second. Low and behold a green haired guy walked from around a corner.

"Hey Zoro, I'm over here."

"Eh? Oh hey Luffy, I've been looking everywhere for you. Those guys I was carrying started waking up so ditched them. They probably alerted Buggy that we are here."

"Don't sweat it Zoro, I dropped off my guy a while back with some of his friends."

Nami realized he must be talking about the guys he beat up in the alleyway. To bad she missed that.

"Yea, some weirdo on a unicyclist challenged me to a dual. It didn't take very long."

"So you got attacked by a sword wielding unicyclist. That sucks."

"He wasn't even a challenge," sulked Zoro. It was like he was sad the man was easy to beat.

Nami looked the swordsman up and down until something struck her. He had three swords and his name was Zoro. Does this guy really have Zoro the pirate hunter on his crew? He might just live up to the hype.

"Hey Nami, you want Buggy's treasure before we leave right?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, of course I do."

"Sweet, let's go then. Wait, we're coming up on another one."

Sure enough around the next bend, their was a weird looking guy riding a lion thing. The guy was currently terrorizing a dog for what looked like no reason what so ever. Damn pirates. Nami blinked. When her eyes opened, the weird guy was on the ground with a kumai knife sticking out his chest. The lion was currently being thrown by Luffy into the sky.

"Hey, are you a new crew member or something," asked Zoro.

"Hm? Ya, I'm the new navigator." Luffy then came walking back, wiping blood from his knife on his pants.

"Nami, go rob Buggy blind while I distract him."

A smile came to the girls face. "Can do!" Nami ran off to get to the clowns stock pile, while Luffy walked towards the now anxious Buggy pirates.

Luffy and Zoro were currently walking to where Buggy was but it turned out Buggy came to them.

"So you think you can flashily take out my crew one by one and get away with it?" The rest of the Buggy pirates behind him started cheering and hyping up their captain.

"Of course not Buggy," explained Luffy, "they were like that when we ran in to them."

"Oh well it's ok then... wait! I wasn't born yesterday punk I know it was you who did it."

"Well I guess you got me Buggy. Don't worry, your subordinates will live."

"Oh, well thank you for being so courteous to my sub... wait! Screw you kid! I'll kill you flashily right now! Bara Bara Ho!"

Buggy's forearm shot out towards Luffy while holding a knife. Luffy was able to doge pretty easily but was taken a bit off guard when the hand moved directions. Although he was unharmed, his straw hat was nicked by the knife.

Zoro, with swords drawn, looked at Luffy concern. The teen had a look of deep contemplation on his face. He wasn't even on this planet anymore from the looks of it.

Meanwhile, Buggy had shot out his other forearm at the boy. It didn't even look like Luffy noticed, much less cared.

'What the heck happened,' thought Zoro.

* * *

 **Flashback**

 _Luffy was hanging from the shackles, still not use to feeling so weak all the time. It like constantly drowning in sea water, but unlike that it you never die from it. The child still wasn't sure if that was good or bad._

 _"Luffy, I have a surprise for you."_

 _Oh god. When the doctor had a surprise it was usually a new poison or update about how no one was looking for him anymore. Luffy never let it get to him._

 _"I bet you missed this haven't you."_

 _The sadist took out the beloved straw hat and began tossing it from hand to hand. Then slowly started to rip the treasured item._

 _"Nooooo! Please, I'll do anything you want! Just not the hat!" Luffy continued to plead with no avail. The doctor on the other hand was laughing his head off._

 _"Do you feel it Luffy? The sight of your well loved hat being destroyed in front of your very eyes gets your blood boiling! This is what it feels like to live!"_

 _Luffy was now frantically tearing at his bonds, coming close to ripping an arm out of socket. His screaming was shredding the fabric of the boys lungs apart, but even as blood came out the sides of his mouth he didn't stop._

 _"Look at you Luffy! Even with sea stone all around you, the bonds can barely hold you! This is life!" And with that he ripped the straw hat in half._

 _Lost it wasn't even the right term. Luffy might as well plummeted into madness. A blow to the head brought him back to the present._

 _"That's right, cry it all out. Pain makes you stronger. Remember this feeling." The grey haired man slowly walked to the door._

 _"Oh, and one more thing, this isn't your real hat. I've said it before Luffy, I love you like a caring father." With that the doctor walked out the room._

 **End of flash back**

* * *

Luffys hand shot out and grabbed Buggy's arm with such force he almost crushed the limb.

"Don't touch my hat clown."

"Hat? Eh, that hat looks like the one Shanks would wear all the time."

This was news to Luffy. "You knew Shanks? He is the one who gave me this hat. It is a very dear treasure of mine. Do you know him?"

"I hate that bastard, he ruined my life." Buggy then told the story of him and Shanks.

"Sounds like he saved your life to me."

"I don't care what it sounds like to you! Separate!"

Buggy's hand detached from the forearm Luffy was holding. The knife in the seemingly autonomous hand grazed by Luffy's face as the teen moved his head at the last second.

"Chi wo Hau Bara Bara Ho!" Two disembodied hands grabbed Luffy's ankles, effectively immobilizing him. Buggy stomped the ground causing knifes to come out the bottom of his shoes then began spinning his lower body at high speeds.

"Bara Bara Senbei!" Buggy throw his lower half at Luffy with the intent to cut him in half. The straw hat decided this circus act had gone on long enough. He stuck out his hand and caught the foot before the blade could come near. Then, applying more force, Luffy broke Buggy's ankle.

"Aaaaggg!" The chop chop man fell to the ground, quivering in pain as the raven haired teen went higher and broke the lower part of the leg. To disoriented from the agony, Buggy failed to call back his other leg before they to were broken.

Luffy looked down and grabbed the hands around his ankles, then systematically began braking each finger. It would have better if Luffy had shown some emotion, even laughed, but Luffy stayed absolutely stone faced.

"You know Buggy, I wouldn't be doing this if you hadn't touched my hat. Apologize and I won't break the other hand."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't break my hand," cried Buggy, his make up running everywhere. It had been a long time since someone had hurt him this bad.

"Well, since you said please, I guess I can end your suffering." Luffy dropped the hands and legs before turning in the direction of Nami's hiding spot. "Oi, Nami get over here with that loot, were leaving now."

"Aye captain," she shouted nervously, running over to Luffy with the big bags of gold.

As Nami ran to Luffy she noticed that Buggy had passed out from shock. A mental note was made to never cross straw hat teenager.

"Hey Zoro, why didn't you join in? You totally left me hanging."

"You seemed to have it under control. Plus I wanted to see you fight."

"Hmm, good enough for me." Luffy noticed Nami was struggling to carry the bags of treasure. Zoro, do you have no manners? Give our new crew mate a hand with the treasure."

Luffy and Zoro each took a bag and began walking to the docks. Nami followed close behind in case there was still any pirates lurking around. Looking at Luffy, she noticed he looked kinda crestfallen.

"What's wrong Luffy," enquired Nami.

"I'm still pretty bummed about my hat is all. Nothing to concern yourself with."

"I can fix it later if you want." At this Luffy perked up a little.

"Really? Thanks Nami," Luffy said giving a trademark grin. The trio walked the rest of the way in silence until they got to the boats. After a bit of figuring, they tied Luffy and Nami's boat together. They then pushed off from the island and made it into open waters. It was quite for a time until Zoro asked a question to Luffy.

"Hey captain, why does Nami have all the gold in her boat." Hearing this made the orange haired girl in question perk up and made Luffy put down his book.

"It's because Nami gets to have all of the treasure we collect until we she has enough to buy an island. Before you ask, I have no idea why she needs this particular island."

The expression Zoro was giving clearly showed he did not in anyway agree to this. Luffy gave a knowing look.

"If your worried about you and me Zoro, I can assure you I have enough money to hold us down for food and basic needs."

"Really," Zoro said incredulously, "how much do you have." The swordsman was in for a shock.

"170,000,000 berries."

First, a silence fell over the three. But then...

"EEEEEHHHHHH?!

Zoro's eye brows flew into the atmosphere. Nami jaw had broken through her boats floor boards, eyes the size of bowling balls slowly turned into giant berry signs.

"Yep, just like Nami I also have to buy a certain thing. Unlike Nami, I have enough money to buy it already."

"If I may ask captain, where did you get all that money." Zoro asked the question Nami was screaming inside her brain. A shadow appeared across Luffy's face when the question was asked. Looking down he gave an answer. This did not go unnoticed.

"I don't feel like talking about it. The place isn't even there anymore so it's not important." Luffy kept his head facing downward, staring holes into the wooden planks.

With the conversation over, Zoro went to sleep and Nami began to re-count her money. When she finally did turn in for the night, she noticed that her captain was still awake, staring into the sky.

* * *

 **A/N:** So it looks like Luffy is rich. I wonder if anyone can guess what Luffy is going to buy or where the money came from? But will all that money be to much of a temptation for Nami? Will Nami begin to think that Luffy can beat Arlong? Keep reading to find out. Plus major changes from the cannon next chapter so watch out.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** I'm back with a new chapter. The closest thing I saw to the right answer was that it was connected with Foosha Village. Close but not close enough to be correct. As to what he is going to buy, no one knows, although after this chapter I'm sure that it will be clear what it is. Hopefully. Thank you for all the reviews and follows. This chapter changes things A LOT from canon. Also this fic may start to seem like a LuffyxNami for a while, I can assure you this isn't the case. Oh yeah, Luffy gets kinda OP in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

It was a bright morning in the East Blue. Birds were singing intricate songs, the waves were anything but violent, and all was good under the sun. It wouldn't stay that way for long.

"Hey Nami, you almost done fixing my hat?"

The crew of three was lazily headed in the directions of a small town to stock up on supplies and hopefully get a decent ship.

"Yeah, here you go Luffy." Nami held out the hat in the direction of Luffy, he stretched a arm over and plucked it from her hand.

"Ahh, feels good to have this baby back on my head where it belongs." There was a peaceful pause before the rubber man realized something that could be considered important. "Hey guys, who's going to pay for a ship."

"You of course!" Nami all but screamed. If Mister Money Bags thought she was paying for one thing he was sourly mistaken.

"C'mon Nami, the thing I have to buy is going to set me back 150,000,000 berries. Twenty million isn't enough to buy a decent ship."

"What the heck are you buying?! Also, how long did it take you to get all that loot?! I've been stealing for years and haven't even gotten near your amount!"

Luffy could have lied about that last part but he decided not to. This was his crew after all.

"As for what I'm getting, it's a surprise. All I'll tell you is that Zoro will probably like it." This peaked the swordsman interest. Nami looked at Zoro with a raised eyebrow, but got a shrug in response.

"As for the second thing, I can see why your surprised at the amount. You steal from broke East Blue pirates with little to no gold. Heck, if you captured the top five bounties in this sea you still wouldn't even have one hundred million in total. But that still doesn't answer your question. It took me one day to collect all the money I have."

Zoro looked at Luffy like he had two heads. Nami fainted at the thought.

 _Who the heck is this guy_ , thought Zoro

"Shishishi! Hey Zoro are you bored?"

"I could use a workout, why do you ask?"

"Because I sense a ship about 3 miles out, coming in from the east. If your feeling it, we can do some pillaging."

"I'm game. Let's do this."

Luffy adjusted the course of the boat and waited. After a few minutes a ship came into view. The pirate vessel was medium sized ship with a giant cat as the figure head. Luffy took out a bullet and tossed it at Nami's head.

"Ow! Hey what gives?"

"Zoro and I are about to pillage a pirate ship. If you want to come along you can but it might be dangerous. Although no one on this ship is of threat to me or Zoro you could get caught in the crossfire."

Nami weighed her options. If she stayed on the boat while these lunatics went at it, she would most likely avoid harm. But if some of the pirates fell in the sea and decided to climb into the boat it would be hard to not be over powered.

"We're here." The crew of three had pulled up beside the ship and tied the two together. Because there was no alarms being rang they guessed that the pirates inside were still asleep. It was still early morning, the only people up would be the look out and the cook. Lucky for them the lookout was sleeping on the job.

"Well Nami it looks like you'll be guarding the money. C'mon Zoro, let's go." Luffy stretched a arm to the deck and wrapped another around Zoro's torso.

"Gum Gum Rocket!" Luffy slingshotted him and Zoro 10 feet above the ship. Of course he could have slowly pulled them up, but were was the fun in that?

The two crashed into the deck with a loud thud that pulsated throughout the ships frame. Within seconds men were rushing out the sleeping quarters in various states of dress. Some were even naked.

"Hello everyone! You are currently being raided! Please bring all the valuables to the deck immediately! I thank you for your cooperation!"

No one moved, mostly because no one knew how to proceed. Everyone except Luffy and Zoro was in a state of complete confusion. Some where in such a haze that they actually went to get the valuables. This fog of uncertainty was cleared when the boss of the ship (a weird guy with heart shaped sunglasses) started yelling at them to attack.

Because most of the guys left their weapons below deck, they attacked with there fist. Others who were smarter went to go get weapons.

Luffy ducked a strike to his face and hit the severely underdressed man in the stomach, knocking him unconscious. Then weaving around a kick to the chest, Luffy grabbed the the head of the new attacker and slammed it through the floor of the deck.

Zoro was also fairing well. Because most if not all of the pirates were either unarmed, unskilled, or both, he didn't even need all three swords. Currently Zoro was practicing his one sword style on anyone who dared to approach. The number of challengers began to dwindle as people begin to recognize him.

"Oh no! It's Pirate Hunter Zoro here to kill us all! It looks like he got a lackey too!"

 _Did I just get called a lackey?_

One second Zoro was sparing with someone who actually brought a sword. The next second that guy was pummeled into the planks, then another, and another after that. Luffy had basically become a blur of punches and kicks.

"This is bad! Sham! Buchi! Come out and help us!"

Two odd ball guys came up from below deck. Both of them had cat claws and the same wimpy demeanor.

"But boss can't you see they are to strong for us! We have no hope to win!"

The two cat men soon showed their true colors as they leaped at Zoro claws first. Because the swordsman had not been tricked by the obvious acting he was able to fend off the first attack. Zoro kept a defensive stance trying to find a opening in the attack.

"First we will take out the strongest of the two first, then finish up the other guy!" Shouted Sham over the clash of metal. That plan didn't go over well with Luffy.

The supposed "other guy" had just finished pounding the captain's head in and turned his sights on pair sparring with Zoro.

"So you think I'm the weaker of the two eh?" Asked Luffy who was now had a scary aura around his body. "Is this weak?!" Luffy stretched his arm out, connecting his fist with Buchi.

The Meowban brother's face visibly caved in from the impact creating mini shockwaves. Before the other brother could react, Luffy was upon him with a heavy flying kick to the throat. Sham fell on the deck and spasmed before lying still.

Luffy looked at Zoro, smiled and did the thumbs up. Zoro, who was still kinda shaken from Luffy's display, smiled back and nodded. Their first real fight as a team had been a success.

"Yo Nami! Get up here and do what you do best! Zoro and I might miss something!" Nami crawled up the ship and inspected their work. Satisfied, she walked down lower levels to get to work.

Zoro turned back to Luffy. "Hey Luffy, about how strong are you?"

Luffy put a hand to his chin and pondered that question for a while. Finally he seemed sure of his answer.

"I'm pretty strong."

Zoro face palmed and looked away. He decided it wasn't that important anyway.

"You know Zoro, I didn't really get to stretch my legs, these guys were pretty weak. You up to spar?"

"Yeah, your on hot shot."

Just before the battle between nakama could start, Nami came up from the lower level with a small bag of treasure.

"These guys were basically broke! Ugh, let's get out here."

Postponing the match, Luffy and Zoro jumped from the galleon into their boat. Luffy then stretched a arm and out and helped Nami off the ship. They then detached the boat and began sailing toward their original destination, a small island with a little town.

It would take a few more hours to reach the island than scheduled because of the raid. Becoming bored, Luffy decided to brush up on a old skill.

"Hey Zoro, can I see your Wado for a sec?"

Zoro looked confused but complied non the less. Luffy gently held the white sheath in his hands, weighing it in his palms, and admiring the craftsmanship of the sword. Then he actually pulled the sword from the covering completely, letting it breath in the air.

Luffy, who was now completely in the zone, stood up and drew the Wado over his head with both hands on the hilt.

"Six pages turning." A blue aura had began to form around Luffy as he brought the Wado horizontal with his eyes. It appeared as if Luffy's whole body was vibrating with anticipation, so much so that his very image became hard to track to those watching him.

"Blue rings of fire!"

The untrained eye would not have seen Luffy spin six times in less than a second while staying in the exact same position. To the untrained eye it looked like Luffy stayed completely still. Then to finish the move, he preformed a strong, right handed, horizontal slash.

In that instant blues flames began to come off the katana as if set alight. But more impressive was the a 4 foot tall blue ring of fire around the two boats. The performance of power ended when 6 giant columns of water emerged explosively from all sides, shooting 30 feet into the sky, then falling back down in a rain like down pour.

After dismissing the fire around the Wado and sheathing the sword, Luffy sat back down and sat the katana in front of Zoro.

Speaking of Luffy's crew mates, there was no words to describe the levels of awe and horror. Nami would have tapped out if she wasn't completely frozen in shock. Zoro was over come with so many thoughts and emotion that things like moving and talking had been forgotten. Luffy was tired so he did a light rest.

After 30 minutes of astonishment, Zoro could finally do basic functions again. After the minor brain aneurism he decided that more then anything, he was glad. Glad that he was following a strong captain, glad that he now had someone to train with, and glad this guy was on his side.

"Nami!"

"Nami!"

The thief in question was still rigid with fear and unable to speak, her brain was still a jumbled mess of thoughts and equations.

 _This guy is absolutely insane! Where did he even come from? It's not like anyone born in the East Blue could do that, I mean he set the freaking sea on fire! Is he some sort of god? Wait, Luffy said he got all his money in one day. Maybe he took over a whole kingdom, took its money, and sunk it into the ocean. Wait, wait, wait! Does this mean he is stronger than Arlong? When Arlong swings his sword, all it does is cut stuff, not freaking ignite heaven and the sea. This is crazy! Some maniac, probably a Grand Line veteran, has descended on the East Blue and made me part of his crew! Now I can't return to Cocoyashi Village with god over there chasing me down. Now that I think about it, how did he know where that ship was? It wasn't in view. Oh god, oh god..._

"Nami, *sigh* whatever I guess. Oi, Luffy."

Luffy came out of his "sleep" and looked at with a smile. Zoro noticed that his eyes were starting to become bloodshot.

"What is it buddy?"

"I think you broke Nami."

"Hmm, you could be right. Hold on, I think I know how to snap her out of it."

Luffy pulled the two boats closer together and leaned in next to Nami's ear.

"Nami..." he whispered in her ear, "...we found treasure on the island."

The reaction was instant. Nami's head snapped up at attention.

"What! How much? Where? Is it gold or sliver..."

Nami looked at her surroundings, slowly realizing that she was still in the boat and that there was no treasure. At least she wasn't in a trance anymore. When she saw that Luffy was only a few inches away from her face, Nami jumped back and scooted to the end of the boat.

"Get away from me!" The girl was on the verge of tears, she began hugging her legs close to her chest and rocking to calm down. Nami lifted gaze on Luffy, tears finally starting to fall. "Who are you and where did you really come from?"

Luffy frowned and looked the now very terrified girl. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, born and raised in the East Blue." Nami shook her head in disbelief.

"No, No, No! I've heard this story before and don't believe it. You are officially to strong to have come from the East Blue or be human. I just saw you command fire and water with only a sword! This is insane!"

"Shishishi, if you think I can command fire you should see my brother."

"What?!"

"Listen Nami," Luffy stretched hands out and grabbed her shoulders and started to shake.

"Nami! Why are you scared of me? Did I do something to you? You must believe me when I say that when someone joins my crew, they become nakama. I would never let anyone hurt my nakama and sure as hell never personally hurt them."

Nami looked into Luffy's eyes and saw a fire was deep within them. This man was telling the truth. If she asked him to kill someone he would probably do it, probably could do it. This was completely new for her.

Luffy sighed, "We'll talk more later." He turned around and lowered his hat over his eyes.

Zoro, who had taken a back seat in this conversation, spoke up. "Uh, I hate to interrupt this captain-crew moment, but the next island is in sight."

Luffy looked up and noticed a hazy shadow in the distance. It was still about one hour out. The setting sun was distorting to image a bit.

"Sweet, get the stuff ready to board." Luffy looked at Nami with concern written on his face.

"Are you going to be okay?"

Nami looked as if another mental break down was eminent, but pulled it together and forced a smile.

"Yes, I'm good. Let's do it," She gave a thumbs up to finish the act.

Luffy didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. There was no way to gain trust in a instant. Plus they had only know each other like three days, give it some time and she would become more comfortable. Maybe Nami might even tell him why there was a Arlong symbol tattooed on her arm.

* * *

 **A/N:** So Luffy knows about Nami's affiliation with Arlong. How will this change things? Comment or PM me if you have a question.

 **To Devlin Dracul:** You really need to make an account so that we can PM.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Thank you for the likes and reviews. I value reviews over money so please review. Some of you might ask where are the Usopp pirates in this chapter, so here is your answer. In the manga, they got to Syrup village sometime in the morning. As you can see from the first sentence, Luffy and crew arrived later in the afternoon when the Usopp pirates were home. That is my logic anyway. Also the Black Cat Pirates came sometime at night and confirmed the attack would happen in the morning. Kuro didn't see anything wrong with his crew because it was dark. Also, Luffy cannot pick out individuals from very far distances. The only reason he can do it in this chapter is because of the massive strength of the persons. Ok, I think thats it.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

The boats washed up on the island late afternoon. The crew of three dragged them ashore and hid them in a cove.

"Ok, let's get to the village before it gets dark," Suggested Luffy.

Zoro agreed saying he could go for some booze and food. Nami nodded in agreement and stated that hopefully there will be a place to buy a ship here.

Trekking deeper into the island, Luffy used Observation Haki to find the village. He used his nose too find whre the food was being served.

It was a small tavern like building that served as the only restaurant in the small town. When they walked in it became apparent that closing time was near, what with the few people there beginning to leave. Now that Luffy thought about it, the reason they were leaving was probably because of him. The crew sat down at a booth in the back and waited to be served.

Luffy had decided to sit beside Zoro for obvious reasons, felt like he was being watched. Looking around he spotted a long nosed guy staring at him from a table near the front. When eye contact was made, the guy looked down quickly. Luffy narrowed his eyes at this but before he could get up and talk to the guy, the odd looking fellow left.

Luffy stood up and shuffled out of the booth. "Hey guys, I'll be right back. If the waitress comes just order everything."

Luffy then walked out the door and walked in the direction the kid he saw walk off in. The two people he left behind looked awkwardly at each other not knowing how to act.

"Soooo," began Zoro, "How are you liking the crew?"

"It's not much of a crew," Answered Nami, "Just three people as of now." She sighed, "You and Luffy are cool I guess, but the captain can still be a little over whelming."

"What, haven't you ever seen a powerhouse before?" Asked Zoro adding a bit of sarcasm.

Nami sipped her water nervously. She had seen powerhouses, a lot of them actually. The only difference was that they were not human, she previously thought that fishmen were the only ones to posses strength of the caliber Luffy showed. At this point, an Arlong vs Luffy fight could go either way in her mind.

"Zoro, you use to be a bounty hunter right?"

"I never called myself a bounty hunter. All I did was collect bounties so I could eat and have shelter."

"Ok, ok. But did you ever consider going after Arlong's bounty?"

Zoro raised a eyebrow as he sipped his booze. "Of course not, I only needed enough to eat off, no reason to go for some big bounty when there were other easier and closer bounties."

"Good point," Agreed Nami with a fake smile. A few moments later, the waitress came and took up the orders.

* * *

 **WITH LUFFY**

"Hey, long nose guy! Where are you?"

Luffy had been looking for this guy for 15 minutes with no luck. His Observation Haki had pin pointed an aura in these woods but it kept moving around and hiding.

Then, like a sixth sense, he felt an attack coming from behind. Dodging to the right, a pellet came three inches close to his face. This brought a smile to Luffy's face. He was surrounded by trees, in near darkness, yet, if he had not moved he would have been hit. It remained him of another man he knew.

"What's your game pirate! Are you here to ransack this village? If so you can answer to my 8,000 followers!"

"Shishishi. No I'm not here to ransack the village buddy." Luffy looked into the dark brush using his Haki to see now that the sun had went down. "Your name wouldn't be Usopp, would it?"

"Wha-, I mean yes it is me Captain Usopp! You must have heard of my dashing exploits!"

"Na, I just know your father. If you come out, I'll tell you about him."

Luffy waited for about thirty seconds then heard a tussling in the bushes until out emerged 'Captain Usopp' in all his glory. Underwhelming to say the least.

"That was some pretty good shooting Usopp. You nearly got me in a dark wooded area. Almost thought it was your dad shooting at me."

You could visibly see the pride swell up in the sniper's chest. "I am the best shot in the East Blue after all! Hey, how do you know my dad?"

"10 years ago when I was 7, the pirate Red Haired Shanks came to my island for awhile. Your dad was on his crew and would never shut up about you."

"Wow! Red Haired Shank's crew! I didn't know my dad was on a such a notorious ship."

"Hey Usopp can we go back to that restaurant now and talk more there. We are kinda in the woods at night, which is fine, just not the kinda place to have a conversation."

Usopp nodded in agreement and the two began walking back while having idle chit chat. When they got back, Luffy did a short introduction and proceeded to begin eating. Because they had ordered everything on the menu like Luffy asked, plates were still coming.

The meal was basically a free for all because there was so many meals before them. If you saw something that looked tasty then you took it. Needless to say, this caused some pretty chaotic moments. Usopp was a little out of his wheel house but still enjoyed the meal. For the first time, other than the Usopp pirates and Kayla, people listened and laughed at his stories. He could cut loose and still not be the craziest one at the table. It felt nice.

Around 1 AM was when everyone called it a night. Luffy pulled out a stack of money and gave in to owner to pay for food then left with everyone. Usopp asked everyone where they were staying, after hearing that they were most likely going to sleep in the boats he pointed them in the direction of a cottage that acted as a hotel for visitors. Thanking him and saying goodbye, they went into the hotel and bought two rooms (Nami insisted on having her own) and went to bed.

Luffy, who was by all definitions not sleeping, got up one hour after he was sure Zoro was passed out. He slowly and quietly made his way out the room. Tip toeing through the hallway, he made it to the front door and went into the open air.

After a quick sprint, Luffy was back to the woods on the outskirts of the town. Finally, he trained again. After looking around the entire forest, he found a giant boulder about the size of a house. Tapping on it confirmed that it was partially made of iron. This would do.

Luffy began to dig under the massive rock until there was enough room to move his fingers under it. Then with a huge burst of strength, he lifted it over his head.

"Grrrr!"

Then Luffy began doing squats with the boulder over his body. After a few minutes the strain became a hinderance. After a few hours the strain became down right exhausting. The rubber man although no longer felt pain, could still understand what was happening to his body.

Sweat was pouring off him in buckets, muscles were starting to tear ever so slowly. The rock was at least 3 tons. After another 30 minutes, he dropped the rock to the side and took a breather.

Before Luffy can recover, he feels something that almost stops his heart.

 _What in the name of..._

He sensed four very power auras coming near this island. They were not even attempting to hide it whoever they were. This could be very bad or very good. Luffy ran to the cove and pulled his boat out to sea.

Getting in he started to paddle like crazy to meet the strong auras head on. It seemed as if they had stopped right in the middle of the ocean. After 3 hours of intense rowing, a small ship came into view. The sea was very foggy making it hard to make out shapes.

"Luffy is that you?" Inquired a voice from the deck.

"Yes! Are you from Wano Country? Is it finally ready for me?"

Luffys boat was now five feet away from the right side of the boat. Yet the fog was so dense that he could only see silhouettes of the ship and people on it. So mysterious.

The sea was also unusually still. Like, the East Blue was calm but this was almost supernatural how inanimate and silent the sea was the moment.

A long object was tossed at Luffy from the deck of the ship, he caught it with his left hand. With his right he picked up the 5 large sacks of money and threw them on to the deck. With the transaction complete, the samurai began to pull up anchor and leave.

"Wait! There are only three of you on this boat, yet I felt four massive powers enter the East Blue."

"The fourth is not one of us Luffy-chan, you would do well to avoid him."

"I'll try my best. Have a safe journey home."

"Luffy-chan, when can we expect you in Wado Country?"

Luffy couldn't help but grin. "I can't say when, but I will be there one day."

"Good luck." With that the ship disappeared into the thick mist. Luffy sat down in his boat to think. To bad that got interrupted when he sensed something bad was headed to his friends.

Grabbing the oars, he commenced the journey back to the island, praying that if he didn't get there in time Zoro would be able to handle it alone.

* * *

 **WITH ZORO**

Zoro was sleeping peacefully until someone yelled in his ear.

"Wake! Up! Now!"

Zoro's eyes shot open and instinctively went for his swords. Then he realized it was just Usopp, who wasn't looking to hot.

"What the heck do you want Usopp?" Asked Zoro sleepily, "This better be good."

"Pirates are attacking the village! I need your help to defend it. Please, I'll do anything." Usopp was grabbing at Zoro's shirt and crying bitter tears.

"Get off of me for starters," demanded Zoro pushing the long nosed man off, "And yes I'll help you."

"Thank you!"

Usopp grabbed Zoro's hand and ran out the room and the tavern as quick as possible. Going outside the swordsman noticed that the pirates had already made it to the outskirts of the village. Zoro also noticed these were the same jokers from before. As he got closer though, he realized most weren't doing so good.

Of the thirty people, five had already collapsed from over exertion, ten were hunched in pain, six looked confused (most likely got hit in the head to hard), and the rest were mildly to severely disfigured. The worst of all though was the captain. He was being carried by the two who looked the healthiest towards some big house in the distance.

"Explosive Star!"

One of the guys, holding up the captain, face exploded in flames. This caused the other one to scream, dropping the captain in the process. Before he could apologize, his face was also exploded.

"You won't go anywhere near Kaya, pirate!"

Zoro was impressed at the sniper. That had been at least 50 feet away. The cat men turned around to see what had transpired. Getting an eye full of Pirate Hunter Zoro was all it took for everyone to lose hope. Sham was in critical condition so Buchi wouldn't leave his side. With the trump card out of commission, all they could do was wait to be killed by Kuro or Zoro.

"Why haven't I heard the screams of villagers yet?"

Speak of the devil! It was Kuro dressed in his standard suit and weird stripped shoes. Cat claws already on and bloodily.

"Klahadore? What are you talking about? Why do you have claws on? Where is Kaya?"

Kuro looked in Usopp's direction then burst out laughing. "Don't tell me these guys are so incapable that they got beaten by scum like you."

Usopp kept looking at Kuro, confusion slowly becoming disbelief. He started gasping for air like there was a shortage.

"Y-y-you! You hired these guys! But why?!"

"I might as well tell you since you aren't going to live." Then Kuro told the boring story that was his plan. Anger couldn't begin to describe how Usopp felt.

"You're a evil, sick, monster! I won't forgive you for this ever! Lead Star!"

Kuro disappeared before the pellet could connect. The coward looked around confused before he felt someone behind him. Turning around, he saw five knives quickly descending towards his face.

"Oni Giri!"

The claws were only a centimeter from Usopp's nose be for they stopped dead.

Usopp stopped shaking and looked at Kuro in bewilderment. There was three large slashes across his chest and blood dripping from his mouth.

"No, ack!" Kuro coughed out some blood. "My plan cannot fail, ack!" More blood. Kuro collapsed in a heap, unable to lift himself.

It was at this time Nami came out from the cottage they were staying at because she had realized Luffy and Zoro were gone. Walking until the outskirts of town she saw a commotion and picked up the pace.

"Hey, what's going on here? And why are these losers here?" To illiterate her point, she kick one of the passed out pirates in the side.

Zoro gave a annoyed look. "That butler guy over there was the captain and planned to destroy village to get inheritance or whatever."

Nami gave a confused look. "What butler guy?"

"That butler g-," When Zoro turned around he didn't see anyone where Kuro use to be laying. Before he could process what was happening, the vice captain started yelling at all the men to look at him. It was amazing that the man could walk, much less talk. Luffy had really beaten his head in good.

"On the count of Jango you will get stronger and your wounds will heal! One, two, Jango!"

All of a sudden it was like the Black Cat pirates were resurrected from the grave. They rose and gave a mighty war cry. Everyone basically attacked Zoro at once, giving him no time to rest. It was like they were 4 times stronger than before. Zoro was still was able to defend him self, side stepping, striding, parrying, and blocking. While this happened Jango slipped away toward the mansion. This did not go unnoticed by Usopp.

"Hey wait right there you punk!" With that, the honorable lier gave chase.

"Hey Nami," called out Zoro who was still fighting, "Go help Usopp."

She nodded and ran toward the house on the hill. Now don't get me wrong, Nami wasn't being selfless or anything. She just put two and two together and realized big house equals rich.

* * *

 **WITH USOPP**

He had to run faster. Kaya could be in deep trouble. Who was he kidding, she was most likely being hypnotized right now and signing a will against her will.

Having no time to use the secret entrance, he cleared the fence instead. Amazing what adrenaline can do. Noticing that Kaya's window was open, he scaled the tree next to it and climbed in the house. Hearing voices, Usopp began to tip toe.

"Just hypnotize her already."

"I'm about to, just wait! *Sigh*, ok on the count of Jango you will sign a will giving Kuro all your wealth in the event of your death. One, two, Jango... Dammit don't close your eyes brat!"

Usopp stalked down the stairs to the living room. Looking around the corner, he saw that Kaya was currently gagged and tied to a chair in the process of being hypnotized. Merry, one of the butlers, was lying face down on the carpet. They would pay.

"Listen, if you don't comply we will kill all of the villagers. Is that what you want?"

Kaya shock her head, tears forming at the edges. This had gone on far enough.

"Ok, on the count of Jango you will put Kuro in your will to inherit your entire estate. One, two, Ja-"

"Flame Star!"

The blazing hot pellet went straight down Jango's throat, erupting the mans whole face in flames. One down.

Before Usopp could take out the Black Cat's true captain, he disappeared once again. Quickly turning around and backpedaling, he caught a glimpse of the ex-pirate. To late to dodge or evade, Usopp could only watch as claws began to penetrate the skin of his chest.

However, prior to Kuro cutting his insides to ribbons, a loud crack sounded around the room. The former butler stopped dead, instead focusing on trying to stay conscious. Another crack sounded, finishing off the once great (not really that great) pirate. He slumped and fell on top of Usopp, knocking them both over.

"You owe me 100,000 berries, Usopp."

The town lier looked up at his orange haired savior. Nami wasted no time untying and de-gagging Kaya, making sure the rich girl would owe her later on. As soon as the blonde was free, she ran to where Usopp had fallen and embraced him, tears pouring from her face.

Nami sighed and sat against a wall, out of breath. This saving people thing was hard work.

* * *

WITH LUFFY

He had finally made it back to the Gecko Islands, hopefully no one was hurt. Using Soru, Luffy jetted across the island and made it to the outskirts of Syrup Village. Looking around, he noticed Zoro standing in a the middle of a pile of unconscious guys.

"Hey Zoro, are you ok? Where's Nami?"

"She's in that mansion helping Usopp beat up some quick, cat butler."

Luffy didn't know what to think of that, so he decided to check using Observation Haki. Nami and Usopp appeared to be fine, although they would need minor medical attention.

"I'm going to check on them. Will you be ok?"

Zoro had numerous cuts and bruises on him from where the hypnotized men broke through his defenses. Nothing serious.

"I'll live. Go check on them."

Giving a quick nod, Luffy sprinted to the mansion on the hill, jumped the fence, and burst through the front door. Everyone in the living room flinched at his entrance, thinking it could be a enemy pirate.

"Nami, you ok?"

The thief looked up from where she was slumped against the wall. "Peachy."

"Usopp?"

He currently had a blond haired girl hugging his neck and crying into his chest. "I'm ok."

Luffy walked over to Merry and flipped him over. There was five streaks across his chest with blood slowly oozing out.

"Can someone get me a towel or something?"

"No need, ack. I'm fine," said Merry, shocking everyone in the room. Before he could sit up, he was then tackled by Kaya.

"Well I'm going to take out the trash," Announced Luffy as he picked up Kuro and Jango, slung the men over his back, and walked out the door. Leaping the fence once again, he made his way to where Zoro was now sitting.

"Everybody up!" Luffy let out a small burst of Conqueror's Haki to get the Black Cat Pirate crew up again, the effects were instantaneous. Zoro stood up, the Black Cats stood up, the grass stood up, and the ground itself creaked at attention. Okay, maybe it wasn't as small as Luffy thought.

"Yo! Take this crap," Luffy threw the two captains at them, "And get the hell of this island."

Luffy almost thought they used Soru based on how fast they disappeared. He glanced back at Zoro, noticing the swordsman looked very dismayed.

"What's wrong Zoro?"

"Nothing captain." Zoro sighed in defeat and got up from where he sat. He began walking toward the restaurant they had eaten at the day before.

"It's only 7 AM. It might not be open, especially since no one heard the fighting."

"Whatever, are you going to come with me or not?"

"I could eat," Spoke a voice. Luffy turned around to see Nami standing behind him. He grinned and gave a thumbs up.

"Let's go then." Together the three walked towards town.

* * *

 **A/N:** Some might wonder how Nami knocked out Kuro. First, he didn't expect the blow. Second, he had already been seriously wounded by Zoro. There is no third reason. Next chapter has that sparring match between Luffy and Zoro some of you have wanted. Im really interested to see if anyone will know the fourth aura Luffy felt. Until next chapter, peace out.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Before reading this look up the Green Destiny Sword. I did my best explanation in the story but a picture is worth one thousand words. Also the correct length and width of the blade was a super pain to find. Also I reached a personal goal of 100 follows! I really want to have 200 reviews before we reach the Grand Line, hopefully I will get my wish. Also, I will consider having extra people in the crew if you can make a good case for there usefulness.

Follow, favorite, and review. It is the only thing that feeds my soul.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

"So you need a ship?"

Luffy had been talking with Kaya for a hour over tea. Because his crew had saved the village and helped saved her, Kaya was happy to help with the ship problem.

"Um, yeah. That would be awesome."

"Okay then," Kaya sat up on the couch she was in, "I'm pretty sure I can have it ready by this afternoon."

Luffy was surprised by how fast the blond recovered from the shock of being tied up that same day.

"Thank you, ma'am," Luffy said standing up and shaking her hand.

"You're welcome Captain Luffy, and might I add that you are one very well spoken man. Did you use to be a noble?"

"Shishishi! Nah, I was raised by mountain bandits in a forest full of giant animals."

"Oh, well that's nice to know I guess."

After saying goodbye, Luffy walked off the estate and to where his friends were sitting on a fence post. Just so happened Usopp was there too.

"Well guys it looks like we will be leaving this island this afternoon. Kaya really hooked us up apparently."

Luffy then turned to Usopp,"Hey, so I heard how you helped fight off some of those pirates. Very impressive."

Usopp's chest swelled with so much pride he nearly died. "Well I am the great Captain Usopp! Most amazing adventurer and brave warrior to ever step foot in the East Blue!"

"Ok. Well, great adventurer, how would you like to become a great pirate."

"Well I- wait...what?"

"I'm asking do you want to join my crew."

Nami and Zoro looked up in surprise. Usopp was completely dumb struck at the offer and didn't know what to say. Luffy put a hand on his shoulder.

"Think on it."

The sniper nodded his head and walked off in the direction home in a haze.

"Okay then," spoke Nami, "I think is time you tell us why you were gone when the fight started Luffy. Where did you go and why?"

Luffy scratched the back of his head. "Oh yea, I had to meet someone. Well three people to be exact. They were waiting for me a few miles out to sea."

Zoro asked a question this time. "Who were these guys that you met?"

"They were... samurais from Wado."

Zoro fell backwards off the fence post, Nami didn't scream, she just went back into 'trance mode', and Luffy kept scratching the back of his head.

"Yea, well I don't know them that good or anything, they just really helped me once and we hit it off."

Seeing that he might kill his crew from shock, Luffy decided to hurry up the explanation.

"So I went to meet them because they had been working on something for me for 2 years and finally finished. Of course it wasn't free or anything, so I had to pay the agreed amount of 150,000,000 for the work."

Zoro, who hadn't moved from the ground spoke up. "How did you know where to go?"

Luffy had hoped this conversation would have been short and sweet, too bad reality had other plans. He was more than happy to talk to his about haki, just not now. Right now he should be training in the woods. Also the conversation might break Nami's mind forever if it goes the wrong way.

"Hey, instead of answering that, why don't I show you what I just bought?"

Of course Zoro saw the obvious side step, but because he also wanted to know what the purchase was he conceded. That question could wait anyways.

"Eh, sure."

Zoro got up from where he had fallen just a few moments ago. After waving a hand in front of Nami's face with no response, he slung her under his arm and began walking toward the boats with Luffy.

"Hey Zoro, after this we can finally spar!"

Zoro grinned, "And here I thought it was never going to happen."

After a few minutes they had reached the beach area where the boats were located. Zoro noticed that Luffy's had been covered with a tarp.

"Ok ladies and gentlemen," Luffy said using a ringleaders voice, "Behold the greatest thing to ever exist other than my hat and meat," Luffy started to pull the tarp away, "Introducing... The Green Destiny Sword!"

Pulling the tarp away Luffy revealed a black, diamond studded sheath. Even though the only the hilt was visible out of the actually sword, Zoro could see it was very well made. The guard was carved beautifully out of jade, the pommel was ringed shaped with a yellow string tied in it. Looking closely, he saw that the grip had a dragon carved into it.

"Wait till you see the blade!" Voiced Luffy, snapping Zoro out of his sword boner. Walking over and grabbing the sheath, the rubber man slowly pulled the blade out of its covering.

The blade was a master piece of craftsmanship. Unlike his own blade which was a curved katana, this one was a double edged straight blade. It was about 30 inches long and 1.5 inches wide, with dragons imprinted along the length. As Luffy moved it in the air, it was almost as if the dragons on the blade glowed green with power.

"You know, there is a legend about this sword. It tells that it has the ability to cut anything and the user must be worthy to wield its unholy power."

Zoro nodded, "it's hard to believe that Wado warriors would sell such a sword for any amount."

Luffy looked over at Zoro and smiled, "They wouldn't. I already owned the sword before I met them; the money wasn't to purchase, just to pay for the sword to be cleaned and refurbished. That usually wouldn't cost as much as it did, but I asked them to somehow add sea stone to the sword while working on it. Because that metal is so hard to work with, the cost sky rocketed."

Luffy couldn't wait to spar with Zoro and go up against the three sword style. But first he needed to wake Nami from her shock.

"Nami! We just found buried treasure! Five tons of it!"

The orange haired girl began to stir under Zoro's arm before finally she came back to reality.

"G-gold?"

"Shishishi, nice to have you back Nami."

Nami grumbled something unintelligible and looked like she was going to say something back until she noticed the sword Luffy was holding.

"Wow! How much is that thing worth?"

Luffy sheathed the blade and pulled the shoulder strap over his head letting the sheath rest on his back. Meanwhile, Nami was still trying to appraise the value of the item.

"Hey, are those real diamonds? What's that material? Can I hold that for a second?"

"Let me stop you. Zoro and I are going to spar in the woods, you want to come?"

Nami gave Luffy a sideways look. "I'll pass."

Shrugging the two swordsmen went to the woods, while Nami went find materials before setting sail. Zoro on the way to the woods was mentally preparing to fight Luffy. The man was incredibly fast and strategic in battle. This wouldn't be easy.

After getting to a spot in the forest faraway enough to not be a disturbance for the villagers, the men began to take their positions.

Luffy drew his Green Destiny blade out and pointed it in Zoro's direction. Zoro unsheathed his Wado blade and placed it in his mouth, then proceeded to draw his two other swords. They each stared at each other with ferocious intensity, looking for the slightest movement. Luffy decided to make the first move.

He jetted forward at alarming speed, going for a thrust to Zoro's chest. The green haired swordsman blocked using the two swords in his hands, the force sent him hurdling into a tree 5 feet away.

 _What the hell? One block and I'm already about pass out. Can't let him get the drop like that again._

Lifting himself from the ground, Zoro took a offensive stance and rushed the rubber man with his signature technique.

"Onigiri!"

"Finger pistol!"

It took a second for Zoro to realize his move had been countered. It took a second more for him to realize Luffy just stopped his attack with a freaking finger. At the exact spot where all three blades met was the index finger from Luffy's left hand, the sword in his right hand was pointed right between Zoro's eyes.

"That's a very strong technique. Almost broke my hand."

Zoro jumped back quickly and regained composure. There would be no break from action for him though. Two kunai knifes flew at Zoro's face, coming within a inch before they were deflected. The last knife grazed his face, opening a gash on his cheek.

"Gum Gum Pistol!"

Just so happened Zoro's chest was wide open after the kunai knife barrage. Luffy's fist hit Zoro in the midsection with the force of a train, sending him through a tree and snapping another. Still the man got up holding all three swords, although a little shaken at this point.

Zoro then noticed that Luffy had sheathed his blade. The man was strong without it, but this could still be a slight advantage for him. When Luffy began running at him again, he prepared to counter this time.

Vaulting of the ground, Luffy preformed a flawless summersault before coming down with a devastating drop kick.

"Tiger," began Zoro, who had put both hand swords over the Wado in his mouth, preparing to give Luffy a taste of three sword style. As soon as the opponent came within range he unleashed the attack.

"Hunt!"

Luffy eyes widened at the flurry of slashes before him. Being in midair wasn't exactly the most ideal place to be considering it severely limited the amount of evading possible.

The first strike missed, the second was parried with a kick, third connected with his upper thigh, forth was was stopped by Luffy dispersing the slash, the fifth was stopped by stopping the strike, and last strike with the mouth sword made a light slash on his abdomen. As soon as the attack ended, he kick off Zoro's chest and back flipped away. Zoro wasn't giving him any rest though, immediately giving a fury of slashes at a Luffy before he could fully land. Each strike was either block or parried by Luffy, who had now drawn his dagger.

"You know, this is pretty fun. That three sword style is really something else," Spoke Luffy as he danced backward to avoid more in coming strikes. The once peaceful terrain was now looked like a group of drunk lumberjacks came through. Trees, rocks, the ground, was all cleaved and chopped by Zoro as he struggled to get a hit on a very evasive Luffy.

 _What the heck?! It's almost like he knows where I will strike next!_

"Monkey palm!" Luffy preformed a bone crushing, open handed hit on Zoro's chest, knocking the wind out of him. Then he roundhouse kicked Zoro in the side, launching him through several trees and a boulder.

 _I can't lose_ , thought Zoro as he laid in a pile of rumble and dirt, blood seeping from his mouth. The world looked very hazy and blurred, only shadowy figures could be made out. Coughing brought up more blood in his mouth. Sweat poured and veins almost bursted as he tried to get up. The effort was killing him.

"Yo Zoro, we can stop you know."

Turning his head, Zoro saw Luffy was sitting beside him eating an apple. Not really having choice, he opted to stop the sparring for today. Accepting a hand getting up, Luffy and him began walking back.

When they emerged from the wilderness, the sun was already starting its decent. Luffy figured it was about 2PM. Since the ship was most likely ready, they walked down to the beach area.

"Cool!" Said Luffy and Zoro in unison as they beheld the Going Merry for the first time. Nami was already there, waiting for the two boys.

"It's about time! Get on, we're almost ready to leave!"

The two climbed onto the ship, and admired the deck. After weeks in a boat it was hard not to. Touring through all the rooms was interesting and exciting, although it did bring up a question. Good thing Nami answered it before it was even asked.

"I get the bedroom!" Called Nami before they could even get back to deck. Zoro didn't care at all and Luffy didn't either.

"Can I keep my books in your room?" Asked Luffy.

"Um, yeah. I would be fine with that."

It took about an hour for Luffy to transport his stuff on the ship, figure out where to put it, and then put it there. Afterwards, everything seemed to be in order to leave.

"Hey Nami I forgot to ask earlier, what's the ship's name?"

"The Going Merry," spoke a distant voice.

Everyone on the ship turned to see Kaya and Usopp walking towards the ship. The long nose sniper was carrying a very large bag in tow, almost tumbling over at the weight.

"Hey Usopp! Does this mean your coming with us?" Asked Luffy from the ship.

"Yes! I have come to grace your presence with the great, Usopp! This means I'm the captain, correct?"

"Nope!"

"Wha? Um, vice captain then?"

"If you can beat Zoro in a fight, sure."

Usopp's whole demeanor changed. That pride and bravado evaporated in a blink of an eye. It was almost amazing how someone could change that fast.

"Well, I guess S Class Sniper will have to do for now."

After Usopp got all his stuff aboard, the crew raised anchor and began to sail away. They waved goodbye to Kaya until the island was out of sight. With no actual destination in mine, everyone kinda went through the motions. It was a little awkward for the next day because no one knew what to do with themselves.

This morning Zoro had decided to take a nap on the deck, Nami was sun bathing in a lawn chair, Usopp was still unpacking his stuff, and Luffy sat in the crows nest to read.

While Luffy was up there, he boosted his observation haki to lock on to the New World level aura. It wasn't hard considering the guy wasn't hiding his power in the slightest. Then again why would he? Almost no one had haki in the East Blue to sense him with and he had the power to one shot any pirate or marine here, the exception being himself and Smoker.

It could be a Shichibukai, but why would they be here? Maybe it is a marine from the old era like gramps.

While pondering this matter, a wave of exhaustion hit him out of nowhere. The lack of sleep was beginning to take a toll on his body. The light naps where helping but it was nothing compared to full cycle REM sleep. If it wasn't for the night terrors he would be asleep right now.

Can't afford to lose control right now or start screaming my head off.

Still, if he didn't sleep now, he would only be at 75% in a fight. Two hours should be enough to get him back to full strength.

Closing his eyes, Luffy allowed darkness to envelop him in a warm embrace that quickly turned cold as ice. Horror and madness began to fill his head as the rubber man fell into oblivion.

* * *

 **LUFFY'S DREAM**

Of course he would end up here.

Luffy was bound by seastone chains, hanging from the wall in Doctor's playroom. The door on the opposite side of the room squeaked open with a piercing screech. In walked the Doctor, gray hair still messy and frayed at the ends, glasses still reflecting the light and betraying how insane he is.

"Its good to see you're still in high spirits Luffy. Also its nice to know I wasn't forgotten yet, or else I wouldn't be here to watch you suffer. Such wonderful suffering."

Pausing to search for something, the Docter finally located the mini notepad in his lab coat. A sadistic grin that stretched to his ears appeared on the man's face as he read.

"Oh this is going to be fun."

The Doctor pulled out a button from thin air and pressed down, causing the room to disappear along with him. Luffy was left alone in absolute darkness. A feeling of falling was the only thing to keep him occupied.

"No one came to rescue you," Whispered a voice directly in Luffy's ear drum. The heat began to rise as the voice kept talking.

"No cared enough to fine you. The only one who you can trust, is you."

It was getting hard to focus on the voice, since the heat was boiling his skin and all. Luffy's jacket caught fire as he fell farther and farther to where he belonged. Everything in his vision became a dark shade of red. Every nerve caught fire, his blood turned to magma.

* * *

"Aaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

Luffy woke up screaming his head off, sweat pouring off him in waves. Gasping for shallow breaths of air, he almost blacked out from lack of oxygen. Praying that no one noticed, Luffy looked over the rim of the crow's nest. Thank goodness no one heard it.

"Well I'm getting pretty hungry."

Luffy jumped from the look out post to the deck. Without further hesitation he walked into the kitchen to cook something up. Grabbing some of the needed ingredients, he began a simple beef stew. It wasn't a 5 star meal or anything but food was food. As if a silent alarm went off, everyone slowly made their way into the dining area and sat down.

"Hey everyone," Began Luffy as he poured everyone a bowl, "We need to get a ship cook."

Everyone looked at each other and nodded their head in agreement. Luffy could fill in for now but in the long run, he couldn't make sure they got the proper nutrition.

"I think I know where we can fine one too," Spoke Luffy while he handed out the stew. It had been about two years since he last visited the restaurant, but that was where the greatest cook in the world was; Sanji of the Baratie. But first there was something that needed attendance to.

Gathering some material, paint, and brushes, Luffy walked outside to forge a flag. It didn't go so well. In fact, it was something Luffy would see in his frequent nightmares.

"What's that?" Asked Nami, slightly concerned.

"Well it was going to be our pirate flag but I'm not the best artist."

"Give me that and watch the master at work!" Said Usopp grabbing a brush and more clothe.

A few minutes later he was finished. The work was superior, too bad it wasn't the captain on the flag.

"It looks too Usopp like," stated Luffy, "Why don't you try again."

A few more minutes later the master piece was done. A skull and cross bones with a straw hat on top. With that finished, Luffy asked Usopp to paint the sail.

The Going Merry was officially a pirate ship.

* * *

 **A/N:** Another chapter is done. For anyone who thinks that the fight didn't last long enough, sorry I guess. Considering how good Luffy's observation is, it is amazing Zoro even got a hit in at all. Don't worry, this definitely won't be the last spar. Next chapter we get to see how Luffy fights when his crew isn't around. This is when Luffy lets out his twisted side a bit. Also, we find out who the fourth power level is. Most of you already know who it is, so no surprise. Till next time, peace.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Here is a new chapter. Hope you like it.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

Luffy and Zoro had been sparing for three hours. Each match ended with the captain victorious thus far, leaving Zoro very unsure of his skill set.

"Your getting better," spoke Luffy as he deflected another flurry of strikes. Spinning his sword quickly, Luffy was able to parry and thrust a elbow in Zoro's chest.

"Luffy, who taught you how to dual with swords," asked Zoro while he tried to catch is breath.

"Self taught. Although I did learn a lot from the Wando samurais."

Usopp, who had been messing with the cannon, turned around. "You know samurais?"

"Yep. Hey Usopp, what are you doing with the canon? You've have been messing with it for awhile."

"Hm? I was just seeing if it was fire ready."

"Is it?"

"Yea."

A big grin formed on Luffys face. "Then let's fire it!"

Luffy walked over to Usopp and the canon. After deciding to aim at a near by reef, he lit the fuse and covered his ears. A load boom was heard as the canon ball was lunched outward, missing the reef by a few feet.

Never missing a chance to one up someone, Usopp readjusted the aim and fired again. This time the canon ball hit dead on, destroying the reef.

"Nice shooting Usopp."

"Yep, thats me! Sharpshooter Usopp! Does this mean I get to be captain?"

"Nope."

"Fine then. But the first sign of you being cowardly I take the position."

"Its a deal," agreed Luffy, knowing full well that he would never back down from a challenge.

After the small brake to test the canon, Luffy went back to sparing with Zoro, Usopp began mixing some chemicals for his stars, and Nami kept reading in a lawn chair. In fact, she was reading one of Luffys books.

As Luffy parried another blow, he felt some killing intent coming from outside the ship. Scratch that, now it was climbing in the ship.

"Hey Zoro, there is someone climbing in the outside of the Going Merry. Do you want to take care it or me?"

"You do it, I'm going to get some water." Zoro walked inside to take a breather while Luffy walked to the edge of the ship.

As soon as Johnny popped his head up, he was pulled be the hair into the ship. After getting a punch to the face and kicked in the stomach, Luffy threw him against the mast and grabbed the man by the throat.

"What do you want buddy," asked the now pissed captain. How dare someone attack his ship without any reason what so ever.

"Y-yo-you tried to k-kill my f-f-friend."

"Is that so," asked Luffy, putting the squeeze on his lungs. A sadistic grin appeared on Luffys face. "I hope he's ok."

"You... Bastard."

"Drop him!"

Luffy turned to see Nami staring at him, eyes wide in fear. Feeling bad about scaring her, Luffy dropped the guy, letting him breath. It was at this time Zoro walked outside the ship to see if the intruder had been beaten senseless. What he didn't expect to see was a old friend.

"Johnny? What are you doing here? Where is Yosaku?"

Seeing that Zoro was friends with this guy, Luffy instantly felt bad about his actions. As Johnny started to explain what happened, Luffy felt even worst about what happened. He should have scanned the reef with observation haki.

After Johnny and Zoro got Yosaku from the boat, Luffy along side Nami began listening to the symptoms. They both came to the same conclusion.

"He has scurvy," said Nami and Luffy in unison.

"Usopp! Go get the limes from storage, called Luffy. The sniper went to storage and came back with a create of limes. Luffy and Usopp then began squeezing lime juice into Yosaku's mouth, while Nami explained the condition.

Apparently he wasn't to far gone because within seconds he was up and jumping around. Then Yosaku and Johnny explained they were bounty hunters that use to ride with Zoro. Not long after the introduction, Yosaku fell ill (literally) on the deck.

After getting Johnnys counter part to bed, everyone congested in the dinning area. Luffy took the liberty of making tea. It was really only meant to be for him, but he decided to be polite and make enough for everyone.

"This is what can happen without proper nutrition. Its a good thing we are already on our way to get a cook from the Baratie," told Nami, who had been slightly disturbed by the earlier display.

"Oi, Luffy, didn't you mention knowing a guy there already," inquired Zoro.

Luffy took a sip from the mug in his hands. "Ya, his name is Sanji. It wasn't until later I realized he was kinda famous around the East Blue for his cooking skill."

"Anything about him we should know," asked Usopp.

"Hmm, the thing I remember the most was that he was really good with the ladies. Like, no women could resist his charm. Shishishi, better watch out Nami."

Skeptical Nami was skeptical. She couldn't even remember ever liking someone, much less getting charmed. Her only focus was money at the moment.

"Psh, he wishes," retorted Nami.

"Shishishi, his food isn't to bad either. Heck, I stayed at that restaurant for five days straight just to keep eating. The guy is super awesome. To bad he never promised to join my crew."

Everyone at the table face palmed at that. Luffy had been talking like Sanji joining was a done deal. Should have known nothing was that simple. Johnny got in on the conversation at this point.

"Hey big bro, if you're going to the Baratie you should know Hawkeye was spotted around there."

Hearing this made Zoro tighten his grip on Wando and smile with anticipation. He could hardly believe that his dream was already this close to coming true.

Luffy on the other hand flinched, almost spilled his tea, and had a look of fear pass through his eyes. He knew when Zoro said that he wanted to be the greatest swordsman, it meant beating Hawkeye. Luffy just thought it would take until the new world to see the Warloard.

"Zoro if you see Hawkeye what will you do," asked Luffy.

"Kill him and take his title," replied Zoro with all the confidence in the world.

Luffy sighed. "I'm only going to say this once. If every pirate and marine in the East Blue went against Hawkeye right now, he would still win."

Zoro's smile faded out of existence. Replacing it was a mix of anger and skepticism.

Nami and Usopp looked at Luffy in terror. Nami couldn't even believe there were people alive who could wipe out a whole sea. Usopp thought this was a story more unbelievable than his own lies.

"Come on Luffy, there's no one that powerful. It's not even possible," persuade Usopp, trying to be the voice of reason.

"Your wrong. There are people even stronger than the worlds greatest swordsman; take WhiteBeard for example. He can cause earthquakes with his tremor devil fruit. Please trust me when I say there are monsters out there that appear to be gods. There is no pirate in the East Blue who can match a Grand Line veteran."

The table had gone completely silent, even breathing had stopped when Luffy was speaking. Once again, he had accidentally let of some haki.

Realizing that he had stood up during the rant, Luffy sat back down and did some breathing to calm down. After a mintue of silence, he spoke once again.

"I won't stop you from going after your dream Zoro, I won't even try, just trying to give you some prospective."

Feeling overwhelmed with the situation, Luffy walked out the dinning room and went to sit on Merrys head. The crew he left was in various stages of befuddlement. Johnny broke the tension with words of encouragement.

"Don't listen to that Big Bro. He just doesn't know how strong you are."

But Zoro did listen. Luffy was a smart guy (he read like three books a day) and he knew about a lot of things in the world. It still changed nothing though. If he saw Hawkeye and didn't face him, he wouldn't be able to look at the man in the mirror.

Nami walked out the the door of the dinning room to look for Luffy. She located him on the figurehead, sitting so still it was like he had become part of the ship. Walking silently towards the captain, she tried to make sure he wasn't asleep before trying to speak with him.

"What do you want Nami," asked Luffy tiredly, completely out of fucks to give.

"For one, how do you always know where people are. Even if you can't see or hear them, you seem to know where everything is at."

"Its an ability called observation haki that allows one to know their surrounding without seeing or hearing. If it is strong enough, you can feel the strength of someone or even how they are feeling. The easiest to locate and decipher are the ones closest to you. Using this ability also allows you to sense what move your opponent will do next. I actually use to fight blindfolded for awhile to increase my haki because my eyesight was damaged as a child."

That hadn't been what Nami was expecting at all. Now it was almost official Luffy could beat Arlong in a fight. Predicting moves? Was this guy even real?

"Ok then, can I ask how you got all your money? You never did give me a straight answer."

Luffy seemed to get even more tired when he heard the question. "I did a bad thing Nami. I'm still not sure if I regret it or not though."

That sure sounded ominous. Not really sure what to ask next, Nami's thoughts were cut short.

"I don't want Zoro to die. He is a dear friend, even if I have only know him about a month. If Hawkeye decides to kill him, I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything."

Luffy now had Nami's complete attention, every pause was like time stopped and waited for him to start again.

"Not being able to help your nakama; is there anything more terrible?"

To find someone this sincere was rare, yet here was Luffy. Always ready to help his friends and kick some ass. Never beating around the bush and always being honest. Nami could actually not believe it.

"Nami, do you still hate pirates?"

Wasn't expecting that. Luffy had defiantly changed her views on things. To bad pirates were not one of them. In her mine, the Straw Hat crew was just the exception to the rule.

"I still hate pirates. All pirates except the ones on this ship."

Even when it didn't seem possible, Luffy's face looked even move tired than before. His eyes were not even open anymore.

"Let me tell you a story Nami. When I was a young lad around the age 7, a group of pirates came to my island for a few months. Even though they could have easily plundered and stole whatever they wanted, the pirates never took anything without paying. Even when I accidentally ate their devil fruit, they were angry with me, not because it was worth millions of berries, but because I couldn't swim anymore."

That explained where Luffy got his pirate ideologies from. Nami, who had gotten tired of standing, climb onto the figurehead with Luffy and sat beside him.

"The captain of the crew," continued Luffy after Nami got settled, "Red Haired Shanks, gave up his arm to save me from a sea king."

Luffy took his hat off and let the moonlight illuminate his treasure. It almost appeared to glow with a heavenly light. A small smile appeared on Luffy's face at the next memory.

"When Shanks left, he gave me his most precious item. I promised to return it to him once I became a great pirate and had a crew even better than his, then become the Pirate King."

The reminiscing teen looked at the breathless girl beside him. Giving a cheeky grin, Luffy placed the hat on her head. A slight blush appeared on Nami's face in response to the gesture.

"So Nami, are you going to ask me to kill Arlong or not?"

Nami went from floating on clouds to being crushed by the weight of the world.

'How in the actual heck does he know about Arlong? Did I slip somewhere in conversation? Wait, maybe he used that haki stuff to read my mine? He didn't mention that though. Maybe it's just a guess.'

"Umm, what do you mean by that," asked a sweating Nami with her best everything-is-all-good smile.

Luffy put his head down and looked to the side. "I thought you would trust me more than that Nami." He sighed and looked up, though not once did his gaze land upon her.

"Guess you should probably be getting some rest, busy day tomorrow."

Nami nodded and was about to get up to leave until something snapped in her brain. This man had treated her like family, was never malicious (to her), and had the strength of a titan. He was basically god sent. If she was going to be honest, truly honest with herself, then it was obvious Arlong would lose to Luffy. To bad years of abuse isn't easily forgotten. Arlong had basically become a invincible pillar of evil in her heart.

"How do you know?" Asked Nami, voice quivering, arms spaghetti.

"I saw your tattoo the first day we met when you were pasted out. Durning the conversation you didn't mention Arlong's name at all, just that you needed 100,000,000 berries to buy an island. You also mentioned a pirate killed someone close to you. It took awhile, but I'm pretty sure I pieced the story together."

Nami, who was a wreak at this point, burrowed her face into Luffy's jacket and began crying, she wanted to trust him but just couldn't. Luffy put an arm around Nami awkwardly and patted her shoulder, trying (and failing) to comfort the distraught thief.

"It's ok. There, there. Captain is here now." Wow, he was really bad at this. Wait, now she was crawling into his lap to cry. This was a whole new problem of what to do with his arms now. Remembering a scene from one of the countless books he read, Luffy wrapped his arms around the girl and slowly rocked back and forth.

After about an hour of this, Luffy realized Nami had fallen asleep in his arms. Making sure he didn't wake sleeping beauty, Luffy rose from his seated position carrying Nami bridal style. Hoping off Merry's head, Luffy walked to the lower levels were the navigator slept and laid her on the bed, then after making sure she was tucked in properly, Luffy went back to the deck.

Starting his midnight training, the Mugiwara captain did 4000 push-ups, 3000 squats, and 2000 sit-ups. After that, he went through his swordsmanship technique, sparing with imaginary partners and enemies for two hours. To test his speed and observation haki, Luffy threw up one hundred bullets 30 feet in the air and tried to catch each one before they hit the deck. To end the training, he did 2000 push-ups with only his index fingers.

"It appears morning will be here soon," spoke Luffy, panting lightly from his pervious training. Deciding to make breakfast, he began walking towards the kitchen. Before cooking could begin, his observation caught on to a moderately close ship.

 _That's interesting. There aren't any strong auras on board so no point in attacking I guess. Most likely a civilian ship._

* * *

 **FULL BODY POV**

Beautiful women in tow, lovely warm night, and in route to a five star restaurant. Life for Lieutenant was good. And capturing the righthand man of the Krieg Pirates ensured that a promotion would follow very soon. Yes, life was very good thought Fullbody as he looked over the railing of the Navy vessel

The woman who would be his date at the Baratie walked up beside him holding two mugs of coffee. She was wearing a blue silk night gown that went to her knees and blue bunny slippers to match. Snuggling up under Fullbody's arm, Moodie handed him one of the mugs.

"The night sure is lovely isn't it," cooed Moodie in Fullbody's ear. The man smiled and hugged her closer to his body.

"Yes it is doll. Yes it is."

The two stayed like that for a few minutes, siping the warm beverage and enjoying each other's company. That was until Moodie caught sight of a certain pirate ship 50 meters in the distance.

"Oh honey look, a dreadful pirate ship."

Fullbody, who was hoping to appear as the alpha male, decided to do a display of power. Yelling out some commands, the Lieutenant readied the men to fire upon the Merry.

"Don't worry baby, they'll be gone soon. Sink them!"

And with that order, during the first moments of dawn, Fullbody made the worst decision of his life.

* * *

 **Luffy POV**

One moment Luffy was boiling some chowder, the next he was outside just in time to catch a cannonball that was flying at the ship. Very pissed that his morning was now ruined, the captain threw the ball 5x faster than the speed at which it had been shot, making direct contact with the enemy ship.

That one throw hit with the power of 10 cannonballs, completely destroying the haul, sleeping quarters, and half the deck.

"Second Gear!"

Steam rose from a now furious Luffy. The straw hat jump high into the sky and rocked off the air, soaring towards the Navy vessel at break neck speeds. He didn't even slow down his geppo, instead opting to close line the closest marines to decelerate.

The disoriented marines made easy targets for the enraged teen. His punches were quit literally as strong as two pistols, cracking and collapsing skulls with each hit. Ripping off limbs and beating the owners with them. Painting the whole ship red with blood.

Fullbody ran over to deal with him and was backhanded in the face with such force he flew over the deck and landed in the sea, back broken in three places, with a major concussion and skull fracture. His girlfriend screamed and ran to the lower compartments to hide, tripping and knocking herself unconscious in the process.

After 2 minutes Luffy realized that everyone one was either dead or about to be dead, what with the ship slowly sinking into the sea and all. Throwing out an arm, Luffy activate second gear again and used geppo to get back to the Merry.

Each member of the crew was on the deck when he touched down. Their eyes widened in horror when they noticed he was completely drenched in blood. Johnny and Yosaku fainted from the sight.

"Hey guys," said Luffy with a wide grin, "I'm going to take a shower. If your hungry the chowder should be ready by now." And like that he was gone.

Usopp looked at Zoro, then glanced at Nami. "Well, I'm done trying to be captain."

* * *

 **A/N:** So looks like Nami might come around before they reach the Baratie. Zoro has a lot to think about too. Also Luffy can only use geppo when in second gear.

 **Next chapter:** Sanji, Smoker, and Samurai


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** This chapter will be the first in a 5 part series about how Luffy met Sanji, Smoker, and the Samurais. This is by far the longest chapter I've written so I hope you like it.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

The crew was still currently headed to the Baratie. The weather was sunny and fair as usually, leading everyone on the Going Merry to hangout on the deck.

Luffy laughing at one of Usopp's stories, Zoro was lifting some serious weight, Johnny and Yosaku were trying (and failing) to lift some serious weight, and Nami was checking the ships direction.

"Then I, the brave Great Usopp, using my mastery over the wind and rain struck down the Great Cthulhu, and brought peace back to the world," finished Usopp, taking a bow from his seated position.

Luffy, who had a huge grin, began clapping and hyping up the sniper until he almost suffocated with pride. Nami couldn't believe her eyes.

"How can someone as smart as you listen to that rubbish," asked the navigator to the cheerful captain.

"What wrong with that? And Usopp's stories aren't rubbish anyway," countered Luffy.

"Whatever," sighed Nami, completely done with this conversation. She headed back to the upper deck.

"Wait!" Luffy grabbed Nami's wrist before she could leave. The thief turned around to see what he wanted.

"Don't you want to hear my story?"

This got Nami interested, considering no one knew barely anything about him. She turned around and sat down to listen. Even Zoro perked at this, wanting to know more about his captain. Johnny and Yosaku read the room and stopped there workout. Luffy had everyone's full attention.

"Ok, I'll tell you guys about the time I first set off to sea at fifthteen."

"What did you do that for," asked Usopp, really interested to hear a true story that might be crazier than his own. Knowing Luffy it would be.

"Ok," said Luffy preparing himself, "it all started with me leaving my island..."

* * *

 **STORY**

* * *

Luffy had set off from Dawn Island two days ago and was currently reading a book about ninjas. It was almost appropriate, considering why he was out there in the first place.

The fifteen year old had ventured from the small island to find a blacksmith capable of refurbishing and adding sea stone to a legendary sword. His destination was Lougetown. If all went well, it should have taken 2 weeks to get there and 2 weeks back. To bad life doesn't always workout for you.

The teen was dressed in a long sleeve plaid flannel over a simple black t-shirt, black fingerless gloves, dark blue jeans, charcoal combat boots, and a simple straw hat. Knife tucked securely in belt.

Checking his compass for the 5th time, Luffy saw that he was still indeed on course and would most likely stay that way with the gentle currents and what not in the East Blue. The chances of rain were bad, much less a storm of any kind. Yes, the East Blue should have truly been named the Easy Blue.

That being said, the events that follow are quite odd. Not very noticeable at first, the pressure began to change and clouds started to form overhead. It would take another 5 hours for the clouds became full blow thunderheads, more than enough time for a skilled navigator to move out of the storms path. To bad Luffy couldn't read weather patterns as well as a certain orange haired girl, or read weather at all. He might have been able to tell something was wrong but the raven neglected to spread out his observation haki farther than a few feet around the boat.

"Yep, another easy going day on the seas. Almost makes me wish for some action around here."

Luffy took the seastone dagger from his belt and placed the flat of the blade on his cheek. He felt the power immediately start ebbing out of his body. It became harder, if not impossible, to use his limbs. Keeping his tongue from falling out his mouth even became a feat of mighty strength.

 _Its good to know how weak you can be. Its good to know your not invincible._

It was odd that Luffy was quoting that man, even after all the things that were done to him. Even after he had basically disfigured Luffy's entire lower body to the point it should be covered up from view. Even after the reverse acupuncture that targeted every nerve meant for pain and activated them at once. Guess it was hard to forget good advice, even if it came from a psychopath.

Luffy was snapped out of thought by a wave rocking the boat gently. That wouldnt have been overly strange if it wasn't for the darkening sky and increase in pressure. Still Luffy chalked it up to happenstance. It wasn't until the sun was blotted out that Luffy looked up from his book again and noticed the lack of sky. A huge storm system had rolled in, miles of clouds long and high.

The wind picked up drastically from its usually gentle breeze to full blown hurricane winds. The waves rose 20 feet in the air then would 20 feet below sea level and vise versa. Dark waters began crash into the boat in buckets, nearly capsizing it at every turn. It was all Luffy could do to stay afloat, paddling and leaning with the waves. He grabbed the sheath of his sword and put the strap around his torso so it wouldn't accidentally fly from the vessel.

 _This is really bad. If I fall into sea it's game over. If only there was a break in the storm, anything! Dammit! My geppo isn't nearly good enough to fly through these winds. My he boat is my best bet._

A particularly large column of water hit the boat directly, causing it to go underwater for five seconds until resurfacing. Luffy leaned overboard and vomited out sea water and bile. It soon became hard to tell if one was above or below the water, the rain was coming down by the sheet, the wind whipped water in every direction, and the waves never stopped.

Luffy gave up rowing and held onto the sides of the boat, squeezing his eyes shut to avoid being blinded by the salt water. Every breath felt like drowning, he began choking and sputtering as if there was no oxygen. On top of not being able to see or breath, being drenched in sea water was starting to weaken him physically to the point he couldn't grip the sides anymore.

The lining in Luffys throat was completely raw, making every swallow a painfully nightmare. Multiple cuts formed on rubbery skin, the high wind speeds had turned the rain to a knife storm of death and tragedy.

The straw hat was most surprised at the fact his boat had not been ripped in half like paper. Deciding to open his eyes and look around, he saw that wouldn't be the case for long. There were maybe 10 gigantic waterspouts in the distance, a literal minefield of whirlpools, and lighting bolts the width of a house. The lighting was so powerful that every strike would cause the ocean to boil in a 100 foot radius. Sea kings were being thrown out the water at the volicity

 _Did this storm come from the New World?! Ok, I only have one chance to survive this, though its risky._

With a complete lack of options, Luffy climbed into the air tight barrel he had on the boat, surprisingly it had not been washed into the sea yet. Not even a few minutes later, a gigantic 50 foot wave crashed on to the tiny vessel, caving in the wood and crushing the boat to pieces.

The barrel containing our favorite pirate survived the onslaught, floating back to the surface with after 10 seconds of being under the dark waters. Nearing to close to one of the countless waterspouts, the barrel was lifted in the air and thrown 200 feet away into yet another waterspout, it was almost as if they were playing catch. The barrel was thrown high into the air once more, but this time landed in a whirlpool large enough to sink a galleon.

Down into the depths of the sea, down into darkness, the cold suppressing darkness of no escape. Unless your Monkey D. Luffy.

The barrel proceeded to float back up to the surface, bobbing up and down through it all.

* * *

 **THIRTY HOURS LATER.**

 **Sanji POV**

It had been one hell of a storm last afternoon. Heck, it almost ripped the entire restaurant to shitty shreds. Good thing they were a couple of miles away from the center of the storm.

Walking on the fins of the fish like ship, Sanji took a rather large draw from his cigarette and looked out into the ocean. It would be a while before anymore customers came. Most would be recovering from the hurricane and wouldn't have time to fine dine. To bad.

The cook was about to go back to the kitchen, until he saw a barrel floating towards the Baratie. Initially he was going to just let it be, it wasn't like a random barrel was a uncommon or anything, especially after a huge strom. But on the other hand there wasn't anything else going so might as well. Who knows, it might have come off a fancy cruise liner and be filled to the brim in sake.

The barrel washed up beside the fins of the Baratie, lightly tapping against it with every wave. Sanji reached down and pulled it up, setting it on the dry deck. It was much heavier than Sanji expected.

 _It might actually be sake._

Experimenting with the lid, the blond realized that it was going to require a crow bar in get in there. He went to fetch one. Before he could go back inside a loud crash was heard behind him. Turning around, it appeared as if the barrel had sprouted arms and learned how to speak.

"H-help," a voiced called weakly. "Please help."

Sanji ran over to the barrel and lifted a leg above the container. With one stiff kick, the wood splintered and cracked open. Out came a a very sick looking teen, who upon liberation, began puking out his guts on the fins. The cook could only watch on, not exactly knowing how to help.

Accessing the situation, Sanji noted that the teen had a very ripped flannel over a black shirt on, completely torn jeans, charcoal boots, black fingerless gloves, and a straw hat on top of messy black curls. A black sheath adorned his back. There was multiple cuts on the guys face, although that wasn't what concerned the chief.

Because the flannel was so ripped, the raven haired teen's forearms were showing. There were extensive burn marks going down the length of both arms. The scarring was horrendous to say the least. Looking closely, he noticed that the scars where very old though no less terrible. This guy had been through hell at some point in his life.

Panting heavily and grabbing his chest, Luffy looked up his savior. Blond hair, piercing eyes, and a cigarette between his lips. He hoped to god this guy had food.

"Aak!" Luffy started another coughing fit by trying to speak. Water was still very much in his lungs and being a devil fruit user wasn't helping. To be honest, he was surprised to be alive. Still wasn't the worst thing he had been through.

"F-f-food," croaked Luffy.

Hearing that word snapped Sanji out of his mini trance. Of course this guy was hungry! Obviously he was shipwrecked from that storm and had been drifting. Just the thought made the curly brow remember a time when he was shipwrecked too.

Sanji put the ravens left arm around his neck and hauled him up. Walking slowly as to not put to much of a strain on the teen, Sanji led them to the dinning area. When they arrived, Luffy sat down in one of the chairs and Sanji went to the kitchen to whip up some fried rice.

Luffy looked looked around the dinning area, very impressed at the atmosphere. Very...sea like. He hadn't exactly got a good look outside but he was pretty sure this place was floating in the middle of the ocean. Trippy.

A rather large hand landed on Luffys shoulder, jolting him from his thoughts. Looking up he saw a tall man with huge hairy forearms, a rope was tied to his forehead, shaved green hair, and a apron tied to his waist.

"Hey! Are you a paying customer?"

"Um, no-"

"Then you must leave!"

Luffy sighed. Leave and go where? This guy was a buffoon.

"Listen man," began Luffy, now getting very impatient, "I'm not in the mood to fight. Get out of my face."

Patty raised his oversized arms, preparing to hit the teen who had insulted him.

"Paying customers onl-"

He was cut off due to a black shoe connecting with his face. The impact sent him fly across the room into a brick wall.

"Sorry about that sir, here's your food," said Sanji, placing a large bowl of rice, shell fish, carrots, peas, and a glass of water on the side.

"Thank you. Hey, can I get your name?"

"Sanji," replied Sanji, who had sat down opposite to Luffy. "What's yours?"

"Luffy."

Sanji blinked. In that brief moment all the food was gone and the water was drank. His cigarette almost fell from his mouth hanging agape in surprise. He had seen people eat fast before but that was ridiculous.

"Hey Sanji, I appreciate your kindness, but am I really welcomed here," asked Luffy who glanced at Pattys broken form across the room. He really didn't want to be a burden on this guy, especially if it meant Sanji would lose pay or something.

"Its fine man. I can only image being in a shitty barrel through a storm like that. Its amazing you didn't die."

Luffy nodded his head. Still, it felt like he was taking advantage of the cooks kindness. To pay for the food, Luffy asked if he could work around the restaurant until he could hitch a ride to Lougetown with someone. Sanji liked the idea, but told him to ask owner Zeff. The blond pointed Luffy in the direction of Zeffs quarters, wished him luck, and walked back to the kitchen.

Luffy walked up stairs and knocked on Zeffs door. Waiting awhile, he finally got called in to the bedroom. The modest abode was fairly nice. Clean, cozy, and it had the whole 'out at sea' look. Zeff was a large man, suited in a white chief uniform, a blue scarf, very tall chief hat, burgundy pants, a rather long mustache that looked as thick as rope, and brown boots. Well ready it was just one boot, as he only had one actual leg, the right was a peg leg.

"Hello sir," started Luffy, hoping to get on this guys good side off the bat. "I recently got ship wreaked and was hoping to stay at this place until I can get a ride to Lougetown. Of course I plan to work while I'm staying in your company as to not be a burden. Would this arrangement be sufficient for you?"

Zeff liked the guy for some reason. Maybe it was his aura, or his over whelming confidence. Could be the scaring up and down the length of his arms, or the irony in him owning a sword worth more than the restaurant he was in. Whatever it was, he liked the kid.

"Sure kid. You can work for me until you find a ride. I don't want to see you messing though."

Luffy bowed his head and thanked him. Zeff gave him a apron and hat, then sent him off to the kitchen. Luffy walked back down stairs to tell Sanji the good news. Getting into the kitchen, Luffy noticed that there was no cooking to be seen. It wasn't surprising, considering that after the tropical storm, business would be slow for a while. Fine with him.

The first day Sanji gave a brief description about taking orders and the menu. Also, because there was free time after closing, Sanji taught Luffy a little about cooking.

"You have to use all your senses when it comes to cooking," told Sanji as he help Luffy stir the soup that would be tomorrow's special. "To make the prefect dish, you must become the prefect dish."

Luffy scrunched up his face. "That doesn't make any sense Sanji. You can't become a soup. A roast maybe though."

The seasoned cook mentally face palmed. "Just shut up stir."

So stir Luffy did. He kept doing this until Sanji said it was time to let it simmer for the night. The two walked out the kitchen for the night and turned off the lights. Everyone one else had already gone to bed to rest up for the following day. Sanji offered to let Luffy sleep in his room but the straw hat declined.

"Its cool. I never sleep anyway," gave Luffy as his reason.

"Why is that," inquired Sanji, knowing full well it might be to invasive a question. God only knows why someone wouldn't sleep anymore.

"I have night terrors and sleep paralysis. If I were to wake up screaming, I would feel bad about waking everyone."

Of course the cook wanted to ask what brought on these night terrors, but that would cross a line. Although he did guess it had something to do with those scars he saw.

"Ok then, see you tomorrow."

Luffy smiled. "Yea, seeya Sanji."

The next day was a bit more eventful.

The cooks where in the kitchen waiting for customers to come, to bad it looked like another slow day. Some took this opportunity to sharpen their knifes, others pealed potatoes, few even took naps (Zeff made sure to wake them with a kick to the head). They might not have been so board if it wasn't for Luffy.

Last night he had basically steam cleaned the kitchen, washed the table clothes, vacuumed and cleaned the carpet, washed the windows, buffered the fins and all the other wood, refurbished the tables and chairs, washed the dishes, and re-painted. The Baratie was actually in better condition than when it was first made. How Luffy got the paint to dry in one night would remain a mystery.

Because free time was in abundance at the moment, Luffy and Sanji decided to talk a little more in the dinning room over tea."

"So that's why you always give food to people, even if they have not money," stated Luffy, who had just gotten through listening to the story of how Sanji met Zeff.

"Yep, that's how it happened. I still can't understand why that geezer would save a brat like me." Sanji took a drag from his cigarette and looked up, remembering a time long since past.

"I know what it's like to starve."

This brought the cook back to reality in a hurry. He locked eyes with Luffy, silently questioning with his gaze. Didn't appear like Luffy would be giving any answers. So instead of asking that, he went for the safer approach.

"Where did you get that sword."

Luffy cracked a grin. He had yet to take the sheath from his back since coming to the restaurant, except being when he took a shower and put on fresh clothes. Luffy currently had on a yellow dress shirt, solid red tie, black fingerless gloves, black dress pants, a black belt that housed his sea stone dagger, and charcoal boots on. Sanji had been so kind as to lend some of his clothes to Luffy for the time being. The raven responded to this kindness by washing everyone's clothes by hand, somehow only taking 1 hour to do so.

"I stole it."

Sanji raised an eyebrow as he took another drag from the cigarette. One thing was for sure: this guy was super honest.

"In fact," began Luffy, "this sword is the whole reason I went out to sea. I was on my way to Lougetown to find a blacksmith that could add seastone to my blade before that storm wreaked my boat."

"So, are you a criminal or something?"

"Shishishi, ya I guess I am."

Luffy took a swig of his tea and set the cup down, sighing in contentment. Then out of no where a dark look appeared on his face. It wasn't anger or worry, closer to annoyed like remembering a chore that needed to be done.

The next moment the door that led outside was kicked, almost ripping it from the hinges, causing a huge crashing sound drawing the attention of everyone in the building.

"Hi all ye sea cooks! Get the hell out here!"

The one responsible for the door kicking and loud out burst was a rather short stocky man, only reaching 5 foot 5. Ruddy and somewhat smushed face, beet red with sweat all around, a twisted nose, bushy mustache, unkempt sideburns, and wild brown hair that appeared to have never been cut.

He wore a blue and white checkered flannel over nothing, three of the buttons were open, displaying a broad chest full of hair, baggy brown pants that had an assortment of patches, and steel toe boots that appeared to have seen to much battle. The only weapon the man seemed to carry was a rifle that dangled on his side like a sword would.

There was one other person behind him, trying to appear as intimating as possible. One was a gigantic hulking man that easily stood 6'7, who wore a simple blue stripped v neck shirt adorned him, baggy red pants, and floppy old moccasins. He had dark skin and dark hair to match, hair tied in a pony tail. His weapon of choice was a rather large cutlass 5 feet in length, strapped to his back, currently gleaming in the sunlight.

There were others behind these, but they were all useless grunts, totaling thirty-five men all in all. 10 were on the fins of the Baratie, the other twenty-five were still on the ship. All of them were dressed in blue and white shirts of all kind.

The pirate ship was in a painted blue and white checkered, a huge galleon (1/3 the size of Kriegs ship), figurehead shaped like a swordfish, and a stereotypical pirate flag except the the crossbones were rifles.

Everyone in the kitchen came out to inspect the commotion first hand. Some already had knifes and guns ready, knowing that this could only mean trouble.

Luffy, who had yet to move, looked at the man with a board expression and kept drinking his tea. Sanji's eyes darkened, already he knew these people were going to have to be forcibly removed.

"Oi! Bring out yer money and valuables! I'm am Chuck the Rifleman, with a bounty of 15,000,000, challenge me if you please but be prepared to die! And behind me is Swordfish Larry, with a bounty of 5,000,000! Together we are unstoppable!"

Sanji had quite enough of the pirates existence. He readied himself to fight and kill if need be. But before he could act, Zeff walked up and spoke.

"Oi, what do you think you're doing in my restaurant scaring potential customers. We don't have a lot of money at the moment and the money we do is for more food and supplies. As for valuables, you might have better luck at a orphanage. This place isn't a treasure trove so just leave!"

There was silence for a full minute with no one making a sound. The silence was then ripped to shreds by a mini explosion coming from Chucks rifle. The bullet hit Zeff dead center of the chest, knocking the ex pirate 3 feet back into a table.

"ZEEEEEEEFFFFFFFFF!"

All the cooks and Sanji ran to Zeffs side, seeing if he was ok. Most were were already in tears at the sight of the beloved owners injury. A sigh of relief went out when the head chief stirred.

"Get off me you idiots. I'm fine," spoke Zeff trying to sit up.

With the concern for Zeffs health gone, Sanji had fear replaced with burning fury. Turning on the pirates, particularly the captain, he ran at blinding speeds, jumping in the air and preparing to strike with a kick to the throat. When the shoe connected, Sanji thought his leg was going to break in half. Instead of meeting a neck, his foot hit the abdomen of Swordfish Larry, which apparently was made if steel. Larry grabbed Sanji's leg and started swinging him around like a lasso. After thirty seconds of this, he released the blond, sending him flying 40 feet until Sanji hit, and went through, a brick wall leading outside.

Patty, unlike the other cooks, wasn't in a state of shock. The large man leaped into action, clamoring in the cupboard for the meatball of doom. Finally finding the weapon, he turned on the pirates, took aim, and got shot in the chest twice by the Rifleman.

"So," spoke Chuck. "Does anyone else want to try something?"

The cooks were silent. They had always prided themselves on being the cooks who fight, but this was to much even for them. Luffy decided he had seen enough and was about to stand, until he saw Sanji walk through the hole in the wall, smoking a cigarette, suit slightly ripped and dirty.

"Is that all got? Zeff's kicks hurt more than that and I'm not even dead."

Chuck rolled his eyes and fired three shots at the curly brow. To Luffy's surprise, Sanji dodged each bullet and a began sprinting at the gun toting man. Larry once again stood in front of the captain as a human shield, although this didn't stop the young cook. Sanji once again jumped and flew horizontally at the Swordfish Larry, leg outstretched in a flying kick.

"Hehehe, give it your best shot kid," spoke Larry in a very deep voice.

Luffy decide to lend a hand. Right before Sanji's leg connected with Larry, Luffy sprinted forward, moving faster than the eye could see, and body checked Larry, knocking the man out the way. Chucks eyes widened as his body guard was taken out giving Sanji's shoe a perfect path towards his face. The kick broke his nose, left a shoe print, and sent him flying backwards through the doorway and into his own men.

Sanji, who wasn't even close to being done, ran outside to confront the captain again. Going through the doorway, he saw the Swordfish crew on their asses trying to gain their bearings. The captain was not present. The cook turned just in time get hit the the face with a rifle being wielded like a club.

"That'll show you not to mess with men," breathed Chuck through his broken face.

Sanji coughed out some blood and tried to lift himself from the deck, only to be kicked in the ribs. Chuck aimed the barrel at Sanji's head, preparing to blow it off.

"Oi."

The pirate captain turned around to see a young, straw hat wearing boy dragging Swordfish Larry behind him by the hair. Larry had multiple cuts around his body, numbering into the thousands. It appeared as if he had went through a wood chipper.

Luffy lowered his sword, being held in his right hand, towards Larry's throat.

"Let my friend go," commanded Luffy. "Or your buddy gets it." To emphasize his point, Luffy pressed the sword against Larry's throat harder, drawing a drop of blood.

"Ok, ok," Chuck sputtered out, finally complying. He kicked Sanji to where Luffy was standing and Luffy threw Larry over to Chuck. The pirate captain did not drop his guard, as the raven haired teen did not seem to have a scratch on him after going against his first mate.

"Good choice," said Luffy, completely devoid of emotion. The straw hat then raised his sword towards the heavens and brought it down with great force. "Doctors Order!"

A second past. Then another. On the third, Chucks ship, the Sailing Swordfish, split in two. Some who had been on the vessel were unlucky enough to have been cut by the attack. Fingers, arms, foots, legs, and one man was even cut completely in half. The crew members on the Baratie looked on in horror as the ship sank, some being able to swim to the fins, others (those that lost limbs) sank to a watery grave.

"Oh, did I forget to mention? Your not going anywhere." Luffy smiled, but in a twisted, sadistic way, scaring the Swordfish pirates and some of the cooks gathered at the doorway. "Oi," shouted Luffy behind his shoulder, "call the marines and tell them what happened." One of the cooks scrabbled to the back to do just so, the others came to Sanji's side and helped him up.

"You ok Sanji," asked Luffy, genuinely concerned for the man that had become his friend."

Said man was currently lighting another cigarette. "I'm good. Thanks for the help by the way." Luffy smiled a non-creepy smile.

"Don't mention it."

The cooks and Luffy went back inside, some went to check on a Partty, who was recovering nicely from the two gunshots, and others started repairing the broken wall (even though Luffy insisted he could fix it later). The Swordfish pirates were told to stay outside least they be decapitated. After a few hours, things went partially back to normal for the rowdy sea cooks. Sanji even started whipping up a nice dinner for Luffy as thanks. Everything was in order.

"Very interesting," spoke a smooth voice. The dark haired women had been in search of a certain three sword bounty hunter, but this could work to.

Miss All Sunday decided to wait till night before approaching.

* * *

 **Next time:** Part two


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** So here is part two of Luffy's flashback. Sorry this update took so long, finals and school were crazy the last few weeks. This is going to be the last part of the flashback for now so I hope you like. Also, I really tried hard on the interaction between Robin and Luffy. If you feel that it wasn't up to par please tell me in the comments.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own One Piece. Duh.

 **Devlin Dracul:** This one is for you mate.

* * *

Luffy was currently sitting in the dark, empty dining room of the Baratie, sipping tea and contemplating. It had been about an hour after everyone in the restaurant had gone to sleep, leaving Luffy with nothing to do. He had already refurbished the place yesterday and any training would either wake up the sea cooks or destroy the floating eatery. It was times like this when he could truly think. Reflect on things. Too bad that was something Luffy did not want to do, especially considering that last he tried to reflect, he accidentally let loose a blast of Conquerers Haki so large it engulfed Dawn Island. Ace had really let him have it that day. So that was out.

Luffy had already checked the book selection and was less then impressed. As to be expected, all were either cook books or the type of magazine you keep away from your mother. It does get lonely out at sea. Never the less, the Strawhat had no use for either type.

If he still had a Den Den Mushi, maybe he would call Ace up. It had only been a few months since he had left but Luffy still missed his older brother. Thinking about him brought up some of the few good memories he held on to. Ace had been his greatest friend and greatest rival for a long time. Over the years, they had grown stronger together, training until exhaustion was an understatement. Some of their spares had become legendary to the inhabitance around Fusha Village, one lasting a full 56 hours. Another match that had involved a clash of Conquerers Haki shook the entire island to the core. After Ace learned Geppo, their sparing battles usually started and ended in the sky. Now with his brother gone, things would be a lot quieter.

Luffy took another sip of tea. With any luck the marine ship that came to pick up the Swordfish Pirates would have room for him to hitch a ride to.

Wait, what was that?

A large reptile entered into Luffy's observation range, moving at a very slow pace. This usually wouldn't be any cause for alarm, a little weird for a Grand Line creature to be in the East Blue but not impossible. What was alarming was that someone was riding it.

Now of course the turtle might be the females(?) pet, although it was unlikely. Those animals tended to live over 100 years so it would have been to late to train it from birth. The other option was forcing the creature to obey you. Now, that animal was naturally docile but that didn't mean it would listen to where you wanted to go. Training it would most likely involve high physical strength or Conquerers Haki. Being that the animal was from the Grand Line most likely meant that the person was also from the Grand Line too. Which part of the Grand Line was up to speculation. It most likely wasn't a pirate because of the lack of crew members. That left a female bounty hunter or assassin from the Grand Line that may or may not have Conquerers Haki.

Well, at least I'm not bored anymore.

* * *

 **ROBIN**

* * *

Slowly but surely, Robin made her way towards the floating restaurant. She had been doing calculations and figures in her head since first seeing the kid in action. How to approach, any weaknesses she could exploit, or any information in general. After going over all the bounty hunters, pirates, and assassins that called the East Blue home, no one fit his description. She needed something to give her leverage in the coming conversation or getting him to join would be impossible. If only she had more time to follow and gather information, maybe figure out if he had any motivation or dreams.

I guess I'll have to make something up to catch him off guard.

Just as she was going to prepare to dismount Banchi, inspiration hit like a Buster Call to the face.

He may be the Red Phantom. Thats the only person I can think of that might be able to send a flying blade attack. Although, if this is true, I must tread very lightly.

When Banchi pulled up beside the Baratie, Robin slid down the turtle without so much as a sound. Moving with practiced precision, Robin briskly walked past the Sword Fish Pirates, who were currently fast asleep on the deck. One stirred a little in his sleep and opened his eyes, seeing a lone shadow bathed in moonlight. He blinked and like magic it was out of sight, almost as if it never existed. Shrugging it off, the man fell back to sleep.

Robin checked the door to the dinning room and to her surprise, it was not only unlock but the door was slightly ajar. It seemed a bit to easy. The Baroque Works agent slipped into the darkness, crouching and keeping close to the wall until her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. After about two minutes, she rose to full height and scanned the large dining area. To her surprise, there was actually someone here near the back of the room at a table. Dropping low again, she slowly walked towards the person, making sure to leave a wide berth as to not be in their field of vision. After getting about ten feet away, she could tell that it was indeed a man in the process of drinking some sort of liquid. Judging by the kettle, tea was her guess.

After getting a little closer, she notice a sheath laying on the table beside the kettle of tea. It was safe to assume this was the man she had been hoping to talk to, too bad a proper introduction still hadn't been planned out.

"You can get up now," spoke a soft voice, almost like a whisper.

Robin reluctantly rose to full stature, a little disappointed he had noticed her. She hadn't failed to sneak up on anyone in a long time. Didn't matter anyways, she figured, it had saved the trouble of having a proper introduction. Robin closed the distance to the table with a notable sway in her hips. It was usually good to get the subject distracted before having the conversation. Made them more likely to make slips and it lessened tension. To bad this particular man didn't seem to notice or care. Maybe even both.

Robin sat in the seat facing the man who had now peaked her interest. Looking him up and down, she noted that he had changed out of what he had been in the last time she saw him. The raven haired teen now had on a red long sleeve button up shirt, very dark blue dress pants, polished black shoes, fingerless gloves, an untied yellow bowtie, one knife in the black belt he had on, and a straw hat to top that would seem to clash with the rather dressy appearance but actually fit.

"So, what brings you here?" Asked the well dressed teen while pouring another cup of tea. After she didn't speak immediately the teen spoke again. "Oh, I'm sorry! Did you want something to drink or eat?" Robin almost giggled.

"No, no, I'm quite all right. Thank you though." The teen nodded and began to take another sip of his own drink.

Not exactly knowing how to proceed, Robin decided to get right to the 'Join Baroque Works' pitch. "So, may I ask your name," inquired Robin in her smoothest voice.

The teen quirked an eyebrow in the middle of another sip of tea. "Sure, my name is Luffy," answered Luffy, making sure to leave out the Monkey D. part. If this person was from the Grand Line it was safe to assume that they knew of his Grandpa and Father. Better keep that on down low until he started his journey in two years.

Robin nodded and introduced herself as well. "Ok Luffy, my name is Miss All Sunday." She heard a choked noise come from Luffy, afterward there was sounds of coughing. After his fit was over, Luffy looked at Robin in surprise.

"Is that really what your parents named you?" Asked the teen unbelievingly. Robin smiled, for some reason, this teen's antics amused her more than they should have.

"No, that is my agent name. I work for an organization named Baroque Works that currently in the process of making a Utopian society. We go by agent names because most of us either are wanted or just don't want their name put out there. Either way it's protocol," explained Robin. Luffy had gone silent and was currently staring intently at her, the way you would if someone looked vaguely familiar and you were trying to recall their name. After a few seconds, the look was gone.

"So, are you about to try to recruit me for your organization or something?" Luffy asked, lacking any sort of definite emotion, "Because if so, don't waste your breath." Robin took on a more professional look.

"Let me assure you Luffy, Baroque works is a very big and powerful agency with over 5,000 members. This is a grand opportunity for anyone with ambition and power to reap large rewards. Someone as strong as you could easily take one on the top ranking spots. The higher the ranking, also correlates to how much share in the new kingdom you will have. I suggest you reconsider your reply."

"Who is the boss?" Luffy couldn't help but ask, now very interested.

"That information can't be disclosed."

"Really? You're telling me over 5,000 people joined without knowing who the boss is? The agents must be packing some serious heat then. Can you at least tell me where operations are?"

"All I can tell you is that the future Kingdom is located in the Grand Line," answered Robin getting a 'really' look from Luffy.

"Ok then, what is your rank in Baroque Works?"

Robin considered not telling him, but decided there was no harm in it. "I work along side the Mr. 0 or the boss." That tidbit of info got Luffy interested again.

"Really now? You must pretty strong then right?" Asked Luffy in a slightly excited voice. What luck to meet a Grand Line powerhouse right after Ace leaves to stave off boredom!

"Not exactly. Im good at assassinations, but really I'm useful in a...different way," responded Robin in a slightly seductive tone. Luffy got the wrong idea though.

"So are you like a sex toy for the boss or something?" Asked Luffy in all seriousness.

Robin giggled a little, she should have explained that better. "No, nothing terrible like that. I simply have valuable information so the boss keeps me close."

Luffy smiled, "Sorry, it's just what it sounded like to me. Your outfit wasn't exactly helping either." Robin hated to agree with him but Luffy did have a valid point. She was currently wearing a pretty revealing purple cowgirl outfit that left just enough to the imagination. This wasn't the dress code or anything, she usually wore it to distract or fool men. Such dumb creatures men were, with the exception of the strong willed.

"Do you have a dream Luffy?" Asked Robin, hoping that maybe she could use it to get him to join. It had worked in the past, why not now?

"Actually yes, I do have a dream. But I highly doubt that your group could help me out with it."

"Well, let's here it."

"My dream is to become King of the Pirates. In two years time Im going to form the greatest crew to ever sail and conquer the sea. I'm still not completely sure what the goal of Baroque Works is but I'm almost positive it can't help me out." Luffy looked up at Robin and was surprised to see she didn't laugh at his dream or even giggled. All she had was a knowing smile gracing her lips.

"You and I aren't so different Luffy. Both of us have dreams that seem impossible, yet we pursue it anyway." With that said, Robin stood up to leave, knowing this was a lost cause. She walked to the door and stopped when Luffy called out to her. She made no effort to turn and face him.

"Are you Nico Robin?"

"I don't know, our you the Red Phantom?"

"..."

"..."

"I guess you were right, we aren't so different."

"Yes, I guess not. Both of us have left destruction in our wake."

"Is it true you took out eight battle ships?"

"Is it true you leveled a kingdom?"

"..."

"..."

Robin turned and looked back one last time before walking through the door. "Goodbye Luffy-san," she spoke a bit sad to leave. That had been by far the one the most interesting conversations she ever had.

"Goodbye Robin," spoke Luffy, also a bit put off at the conversation ending. Didn't meet someone like that everyday.

As Robin mounted Banchi and began to drift away, she took out her den den mushi and phoned Crocodile. The dial tone rang twice befor he picked up.

"What do you want Miss All Sunday, this better be important."

Robin sighed. "I'm heading back to Alabasta, send someone else to recruit Zoro."

"Did you find anything on that Red Phantom while over there?" Asked Crocodile completely ignoring her request.

"No, I didn't find anything."

There was some grumbling heard and the line went dead. Robin put the den den mushi back into her coat sleeve and sat back into her chair, letting sleep envelop her.

* * *

 **Three Days Later...**

* * *

Luffy had been basically accepted into the family of cooks that inhabited the Baratie. At some point he had just blended with their regular routine. Cooking, cleaning, serving customers, Luffy did it all and was well liked to boot. Him and Sanji had actually became very good friends over the course of the week. Right now they were preparing for the lunch rush.

"I still can't believe you want to be Pirate King," said Sanji for the eighth time.

"You know, its still not to late to say you'll join my crew. You could be first mate and ship cook," replied Luffy for the eighth time.

"No way I would be on a pirate ship. Plus I still need Zeff to recognize me as a chef before I ever leave this place. I owe him my life and respect."

"Whatever, in two years when I come back, you are joining my crew for sure."

"Hmph." Secretly, Sanji wouldn't mine being on a ship with Luffy but just wouldn't happen until Zeff recognized him. Although, if that happened while Luffy was away, when he got back, Sanji would be going along with him to pursue his own dream.

* * *

 **Same Day...**

* * *

"Tashigi what's the report on the East Blue relief work in this region?"

"We have visited all the ports that were hit the hardest by the storm and provided the necessary goods for each one! As far as the relief work goes, we have done our part to the letter Captain!"

After the mega storm devastated the East Blue, countless Navy vessels were sent to provide food, shelter, and medical care for the hardest hit islands and kingdoms. Smoker's region had not been hit very hard so the relief work didn't take long. While he was at the first kingdom in need, they had gotten a call that someone had taken out the Swordfish Pirates and needed them to be picked up. Apparently a stranded teenager staying at a sea restaurant and a bunch of cooks defeated the infamous group. Hard to believe but not impossible apparently.

"Make a course to the Baratie, we pick up the Swordfish Pirates today," shouted Smoker.

"Yes sir!" Tashigi ran off and began yelling out orders to the marines currently on deck. Many of the marines were quite happy to be going to the sea restaurant, hoping that maybe Smoker would let them eat a little before leaving, though no one was counting on it. Tashigi ran towards Smoker, having put the men on the right track, was now looking for more orders. The Navy Captain sighed and began walking toward his courters, Tashigi trailing close behind.

"Sir, if I may ask, what do you think of a citizen taking out the Swordfish Pirates. They were worth 20 million and feared throughout the East Blue for their power and intimidation. Its very strange that cooks and a shipwrecked citizen could beat them when some of our own ships could not."

Smoker stopped and listened to what he had already been thinking. Honestly, he didn't really know what to think. Hopefully everything would become clear when they made there.

"I don't really know Tashigi, but I guess the only way to find out is to make it there and see for yourself."

"Yes sir!" Yelled the women, saluting the Captain before walking off. Smoker sighed and walked towards his room, interest throughly peaked.

* * *

 **A/N:** You guys like? The Red Phantom thing will be cleared up eventually, so be patient. Also, while Luffy is telling this story it should be noted he left out some parts. Mostly the parts he wasn't there to see an anything concerning the name Red Phantom.

 **Next Chapter:** Stowaway


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** I'm back everyone. Hope you enjoy this next chapter. Also, if Luffy wasn't OP already then he sure is now.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

"Well, I think I'll stop the story for now," proclaimed Luffy, who had begun to sit up. This was met with groans and sounds of protest from his crew as they had become quite invested in the flashback. Even Zoro didn't want it to end.

"C'mon Luffy! You can't just start an amazing story like that and not finish it!" Shouted Usopp, who was the most upset of them all. As a story teller himself he would have loved to hear the whole thing.

"Yeah Big Bro! Luffy You can't leave us high and dry!" Whined Johnny and Yosaku with tears in their eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll pick back up another day but for now it's getting late."

This seemed to snap the inhabitants of the deck out of whatever trance the story had them in. It had in fact become late afternoon and the day would soon become night. Amazing how time flies. Everyone more or less started to go about their normal nocturnal routines. Luffy decided to get dinner started for everyone, Usopp went outside to work under the stars, Nami followed suit but for the purpose of finding their position and guessing how far until they reached the Baratie, and Zoro, Johnny, and Yosaku went beck to training (mostly Zoro though).

Zoro had in fact been deeply affected by what Luffy had told him yesterday. That being said, he had told Johnny and Yosaku to show him absolutely no mercy in the sparring matches that followed. To bad they weren't exactly worthy opponents that could push him to his limits. Yes, no mattered how hard they swung or how quick they were, even together Zoro completely trumped them. It also meant this wasn't going to get him anywhere. The swordsman went to go get Luffy in hopes they could spar together.

"Yo, Luffy," called Zoro, peeking into the kitchen. He saw that the captain had switch out his usual wear for a long sleeve thermal shirt, red scarf, black jeans, black boots, straw hat, fingerless red gloves, and a pink 'kiss the cook' apron. It also appeared as if he was still in the process of cooking some type of curry that smelled quite nice.

Luffy turned and smiled at the swordsman. "Hey Zoro, what's up?"

"I was hoping we could train a little after dinner."

"Hmm, ok then, I've been meaning to get a good workout in anyway," responded Luffy, still smiling and stirring a pot of curry. The swordsman nodded and went to leave but was stopped by Luffy. "Oh and Zoro, could you tell the rest of the crew dinner is ready?" Zoro nodded and walked away. He walked downstairs to Nami's room and knocked because there was no way in hell he was just walking in. The only person who did that and lived was Luffy. "Oi, dinner is almost ready."

"Thanks Zoro, I'll be right out." That was probably the nicest interaction between the two ever.

Next Zoro found Usopp in the guy's room, tinkering with some chemicals the swordsman probably didn't understand. "Oi, dinner is almost ready Usopp."

"Thanks, I'll be there in a second," spoke the sniper while carefully pouring two chemicals together. Zoro nodded and headed back to the kitchen. As he walked in he saw that Luffy was laying out plates of curry and rice for everyone, whistling a nice tune and smiling real big like. It was kinda creepy. The swordsman shrugged and sat down deciding to ignore the weird behavior.

"Zoro, would you be okay if I challenged Hawkeye to a dual," asked Luffy, shading his eyes from view. "Technically it wouldn't interfere with your dream. If I lose then nothing will have changed, if I win then you can just strive to beat me. Either way I want see how strong I've gotten and if I'm truly ready for the Grand Line. Please allow me this."

The moss head considered it. He had made a good point that technically nothing would change, it would just be a change in rival.

"Yes Luffy, you can fight him but only after I've had my way first with him. If I'm killed then I guess it wouldn't matter if you challenged him or not," spoke Zoro, not enjoying the turn this conversation took. He was smart enough to know that Luffy wasn't trying to interfere with his dream but he was still pretty upset. "Listen Luffy, is Hawkeye really as strong as you say and if so why do you want to fight him?"

Luffy looked up and grinned, "I'm reckless like that sometimes."

Zoro felt like there might be some other motive but let it slide. The crew had all started to converge in the kitchen anyway. Soon a lively conversation about sea monsters was struck up and the former topic was forgotten for the moment. Usopp had begun to tell about the 500 foot sea king he defeated in battle with only a tooth pick and a grain of sand. The story was only ended when Luffy suggested they go to the Calm Belt so he could recreate the moment. After that Johnny and Yosaku began to tell of their exploits when they and Zoro were partners in bounty hunting. None of the names they brought in were impressive to say the least and most of the stories ended with Zoro saving their skin, but still everyone at the table humored them.

After dinner, Luffy said it was finally time to train and invited everyone to come. Only Zoro and the bounty pair excepted the offer unlike what was currently the weak duo (not trio yet) opted out for less dangerous endeavors. Nami actually decided to stay on deck to watch whereas Usopp went to the crows nest to watch for ships.

"Ok, lets get started," began Luffy, who had changed into his normal battle attire, "I want you three to try and kill me."

If Luffy was trying to draw the attention of everyone on the ship he succeeded. Even Usopp all the way in the crows nest heard. For a moment everyone was silent. Until Johnny busted out laughing.

"Hehehe, common Big Bro Luffy, we wouldn't kill Zoro's captain. You really shouldn't joke like that, right Big Bro Zoro? Um, Zoro?"

The swordsman in question had already drawn all three on his swords and was preparing for battle. "Don't take him lightly; if you won't fight the get out the way," spoke Zoro in a cold voice, not even bothering to turn around. The way he saw it, if he couldn't beat Luffy then how the heck was he suppose to beat Hawkeye? After placing Wado in his mouth, Zoro took fighting position and prepared to attack.

"Oni Gi-"

Zoro flew forward at blinding speeds with full intent to kill as requested. No one on the ship couldn't even follow his movements. The flash of his swords moving through the air, the green bandanna on his head, and eyes sharp as an eagle. Yet, the only person right now who could see Zoro was Luffy. In fact, the Santoryuu user might as well have been in slow motion.

 _*sigh*, I shouldn't have used one trump card like this. Oh well, this will be a good eye opener for him._

"Hidden Observation Technique: Mortal Draw," whispered Luffy. The captain willed his observation haki into a condensed area and enhanced it with Conquerers Haki. Luffy had learned a long time ago how to keep his observation going forever. For awhile after he escaped the doctor, he wasn't able to even think straight because of constant paranoia. What was behind that corner? What was around the next bend? After a full year of hell, he had started to develop observation haki. After three years he could keep it going indefinitely and stretch in out over 1/4 the island. Usually Luffy was constantly surveying the surrounding area for enemy ships or particularly dangerous sea kings, but whenever he was in a serious fight or in this case sparing with Zoro, Luffy would tighten the area of observation. It was like he could feel everything, see everything, and hear everything. It wasn't stopping time, but it was pretty damn close. It was also basically the only way to use Soru and Enhanced Gear Second at the same time without getting tunnel vision.

Moving quickly (an understatement), Luffy pulled his sword out, cut Zoro across the chest (not deep), took Zoro's swords, put them in the their sheaths, and laid them on the deck in a Z formation. If Zoro had Observation Haki he would have been able see him and most likely fight back, although that wasn't the case (obviously). Feeling satisfied and also getting a little winded by over using Haki, Luffy went back to normal time.

"-ri! Huh? What in the-"

The first thing everyone noticed was that Luffy was now on the opposite side of the deck. This was very disturbing because it appeared as if he teleported, vanishing into thin air and reappearing in the exact same stance. The second thing they noticed was that Zoro no longer had his swords in his hands, the swordsman's katanas were sheathed and laid in a Z formation. The moss-head wasn't just surprised but also bewildered at the thought Luffy just disarmed and cut(?) him apparently. _What type of devil fruit did he eat again?_

"What are you going to do Zoro?" The swordsman looked behind at the captain. "You see I'm faster and most likely stronger. So, are you going to admit defeat or keep fighting?" Zoro's face harden and a shadow fell over his eyes. He wouldn't back down to anyone, even if he was completely out classed. Turning around and running forward, Zoro rolled, grabbing his swords in the process, and stood up prepared to face off once again.

"I won't back down!"

After placing Wado in his mouth, he sprinted towards Luffy with renewed resolve. He swung with deadly accuracy, aiming at Luffy's throat and torso. The pirate captain swiftly moved out the way and punched Zoro in the gut almost forcing him to drop to his knees. Withstanding the pain, he swung to the right, too bad Luffy was already at his left. That earned him a kick to the sternum, forcing blood to come out his mouth, sight to blur, and sending him into the railing of the ship. Still he hung on to his swords and stayed planted firmly on the deck floor. Suffering from a bad case of double vision, Zoro barley even knew the punch to the face was coming, the impact knocked Wado out of his mouth and sent the man hurdling into the mast.

"BIG BRO!" Shouted Johnny and Yosaku, snapping out of the stupor they were in just a few seconds ago. Johnny pulled out his sword and imposed himself between the sparing pair, while Yosaku went to help up Zoro. "What the hell do you think your doing?! This fight was over a long time ago and yet you kept hitting hi-!" Johnny was cut off with a surprise fist to the stomach. Unlike Zoro, this sent him to the ground crying like a 5 year old.

"Shut up, you clearly know nothing of real life and death combat. The enemy wont show mercy and neither will I until Zoro either tells me he wants to stop or if he can't stand anymore. As of now none have happened," explained Luffy, voice cold and level. Despite the efforts of Yosaku to keep Zoro from standing back up, the three sword style user rose to his feet yet again and prepared his swords. As soon as he was up and Wado was once again in his mouth, Luffy began the hunt yet again.

Yosaku ran at Luffy with a sword raised high in the air, preparing to strike, "Leave him alone!" His valiant efforts were rewarded with a backhand to the face so hard he flew off the ship. If his jaw was still perfectly fine it would be a surprise.

"Whoops, I think hit him a little to hard. Can someone go get Yosaku, I can't swim." Usopp jumped over board to save the bounty hunter on Luffys behalf. While he was being rescued, Luffy stopped the sparring match and told Zoro to go wash up, which he did mumbling "weak" and "more training" all the way to the bathroom. Nami, who had been quiet throughout the fight left for her room, feeling even more confidant that Arlong wouldn't last five minutes fighting Luffy. The bounty hunting pair went to bed early, something about feeling close to death. Before Usopp could go to the guy's bedrooms, Luffy intercepted him.

"Hey Usopp, can you do something for me?"

"Umm sure, what's up Luffy?"

"Tonight at one in the morning can you come to the deck," asked Luffy even though it sounded more like a command.

"Uh yeah. Why?"

"You'll see."

* * *

It was currently two o clock in the morning. The only person still awake other than Luffy was a lone stowaway in the storage room. He had been there for almost three days, waiting for the perfect time to escape. Normally the feared right hand man of the Krieg Pirates wouldn't show any hesitation in trying to take over this ship and steering it back to his Captain but this was different.

Every time Gin closed his eyes, flashbacks of a crazed man ripping arms off Navy soldiers came to mind. Punches so hard the wind coming off broken ribs. Blood, the crimson red flying everywhere. The cannonball that crippled the Navy vessel ripped right through the holding cell nearly killing him. In all the fuss afterwards he made it off the ship, avoiding death at every turn. After making it into sea water, the experienced pirate swam to the attacking ship and got inside using the cannon doors. Ever since he was biding the time until he could steal the spare rowboat and leave.

 _Did that guy fly? What the actual fuck?_

Gin then tensed when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He slipped behind a crate in the back and waited for the person to go away.

"Come out. I know you're there."

Seeing no point in waiting for the inevitable, Gin rose, ready to fight to the death, even though after three days with no food he was in no shape to try. Good thing there would be no fighting involved. The straw hat wearing man had a plate of fried rice, chicken, dumplings, with a side of soy sauce in one hand and a large glass of water in the other. It might as well have been gold nuggets.

"Thought you might be hungry. Eat up."

Slowly the Krieg Pirate walked towards Luffy, not entirely sure about the whole situation. In fact, Gin wasn't going to except the food at first, pride over taking hunger, but only for a split second. Luffy placed the food on the floor and stepped back while Gin lowered himself and viciously tore into the meal. After the pain of starvation had subsided, tears began to fall from the normally stoic pirate.

"Thank you. Thank you so much for your kindness," spoke Gin through grateful tears, still on his knees. Luffy smiled at the Krieg Pirate, remembering a time when he too would gladly gave up his pride for a decent meal. The pirate captain turned and began walking towards the doorway.

"Take the spare rowboat and get the hell off my ship," commanded Luffy good naturally. Luffy might have offered him position on the ship but the man belonged to a different crew. And naturally pirates were enemies to other pirates.

"Wait. What's your name?" Asked Gin, yearning to know who had saved his life.

"Luffy, Monkey D. Luffy."

* * *

 **A/N:** For anyone who didn't catch it, I did say Enhanced Gear 2nd. That will be explained later. Also Luffy looks pretty power right about now but will it be enough to contend with the Worlds Greatest Swordsman? What did Luffy want Usopp for? All questions will be answered in time. Next chapter we see our favorite cook. But will he join?

 **Next Chapter:** Hello Hawkeye


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Sorry this chapter took so long. My usual grammar checker wasn't up to reading at the moment so go easy on the criticism. I made sure to jam pack this chapter with teasers and foreshadowing, so I would read twice over if I were you.

Next chapter this story will officially become M rated.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

The Crew of the Going Merry had finally reached the the sea restaurant Baratie after many days of sailing. It was currently night time in the East Blue and all were asleep. Of course this excluded the pirate Captain Monkey D. Luffy who rarely slept more than 5 minutes at any given week for a number of reasons. The polite person in side of Luffy told him to wait for everyone to wake up well rested and ready for the day before entering the Baratie. To bad the polite side of Luffy wasn't in charge here. Instead the rubber man sucked in as much air as possible (which is a lot) and screamed...

"Oi! Lousy bunch of shit sea cook scum! Get the hell out here!

The peaceful silence was shattered into a billion pieces and proceeded to get thoroughly annihilated when the Baratie erupted in an orchestra of noise and dynamic activity. The Going Merry, which had also been resting on gentle waves, exploded with sounds of people yelling and trying to get to the deck, thinking that they were under attack. Zoro was the first to enter the fray, no shirt or shoes, swords drawn and ready to fight. Sanji burst from the restaurant with no shirt as well, ready to take on whatever enemy had dare mess with the cooks that fight. Because of the dark and lack of knowledge, Zoro assumed that the Baratie was a enemy pirate ship and Sanji couldn't see who was the one that screamed, so as soon as Zoro boarded the fins a epic battle began.

Zoro blocked a kick to the ribs with the blunt end of the katana and proceeded to lash out with horizontal slash to the torso. Sanji being quick to react, jumped backwards before the blade could connect, then dropping low, leg swiped the swordsman, causing Zoro to stumble and fall backwards into the dark water. Feeling pretty good about his small victory over the interloper, Sanji turned to face the next enemy, which once again were swordsmen. The pair didn't seem as skilled as the first though, as Sanji was easily able to round house the first one in the face hard enough to send the stupid shades flying, honestly who wears shades in the middle of the night, and then dispatch the first second one just as simply with a kick to the stomach. Both men flew from the fins and into the water below to join their friend. Sanji was three for three. Or so he thought. Like a whale surfacing for air, a figure leaped from the water and landed on the deck, three swords gleaming in the cloudy night. Wasting no time Zoro attack with new energy, swinging his swords with deadly accuracy like a man possessed. Sanji proceed to duck, weave, and twist out the way almost as if he was lighter than air, much to the annoyance of Zoro. Then without warning Sanji went on the offensive with multiply round houses to the head, legs, neck, torso, and back. Although for all the effort he couldn't land a single hit on the three style user, in fact it seemed like a very even match. Changing his strategy, Sanji jumped high into the air and let the darkness surround him, dismaying Zoro in the process because he could no longer see the opponent. Sanji somersaulted in midair and fell back to earth ready to hit with a devastating drop kick to the skull.

Zoro looked up just in time to see a dark shadow moving downward quickly. Reacting just in time, Zoro brought up his swords and blocked the devastating blow. The force of the attack pushed him through the wooden planks of the fins and cracked the blade on two of his swords.

 _Dammit, I'll have to finish this with one last attack. These swords won't hold up otherwise._

Sanji pushed off and preformed a back flip, putting a good distance between the swordsman. At this time, the rest of the cooks had came out of the restaurant brandishing knives, fist, and guns. Patty had some sort of handheld cannon shaped like a lobster. They began circling around Zoro, closing in with weapons raised. Looking around, Zoro began sizing up each of the cooks not liking his odds, especially that cannon.

"Last words pirate," asked Patty, aiming the cannon the best he could in the dark. It would soon become impossible see, making aiming impossible.

"Zoro close your eyes," yelled Usopp, who had perched himself on the Going Merry's mast. Not waiting to question what Usopp was up to, Zoro followed the command, squeezing his eyes shut. "Excellent. Sure shot: Flash Star!" Usopp shoot three pellets into the circle of disgruntled chiefs causing a flash brighter than the sun, effectively blinding everyone in the vicinity. While the cooks were disoriented Zoro backpedaled and jumped back to the Going Merry to regroup. Usopp slid down the mast and raised his hand for a high-five. Zoro high-fived him and patted the snipers shoulder, "nice job Usopp."

"Damn, shitty freaking flash bomb," muttered Sanji as he tried to regain his sight along with the other cooks. At this point, Zeff had come out the Baratie, annoyed that there was still a commotion. Nami had similarly walked out the lower deck completely pissed at the lack of sleep she had got.

"What the heck are you doing out here Sanji?"

"Shut up geezer," shouted Sanji still rubbing his eyes, "I'm handling it!"

"Doesn't look like it."

"Yea Sanji, you couldn't even take out one guy," imputed Luffy, adding fuel to the fire.

"Keep out of this Lu-," the curly brow turned around in the direction of the ship, befuddlement clear on his face. "Luffy?"

Luffy busted out laughing and geppo'd over to the fins of the Baratie. He landed a few feet from Sanji and opened his arms out for a hug. "Its been a long time huh?" Sanji, despite himself, smiled a wide grin and met Luffy with a three second hug, any longer would have been weird. Some of the newer cooks who didn't know Luffy were a bit confused at what was even happening but lowered their weapons.

Luffy turned back to the Going Merry, "hey guys, this is Sanji of the Baratie! Yo Sanji, that's my crew over there!" Sanji nodded and lit a cigarette to relax a little, then invited the Going Merry crew inside for some food. While walking inside of the restaurant, Nami hit Luffy over the head for waking her up in the middle of the night. And it actually kinda stung.

 _Dang, did she just use armament haki? I'll have to train her later._

The chiefs began cooking up multiply dishes and entrees, appetizers and desserts, entire animals were deep fried. Zoro had already started drinking the building the dry, starting a drinking contest with some of the chiefs, even Nami had entered in. Usopp was telling the greatest hits of 'The Greatest Adventurer to Live: Captain Usopp', which was moderately entertaining to anyone who had starting drinking. Coincidentally, it also made the ones who weren't drinking start, so by the fourth story, everyone was laughing like they were at the Apollo Theater. Johnny and Yokasu had tried (and failed) to join in on Zoro's drinking game, so they were on the floor past out, face down. Luffy smiled and sipped his tea, digesting the 30 pounds of food he just consumed. _Maybe I should go in for fifths?_ But just before the captain could rise and head to the kitchen, Sanji sat down next to him.

"Hey Luffy." Sanji paused to lit his cigarette then continued. "Nice to see you found a crew, even if it is pretty small now. I was a little afraid that you would be alone when you showed back up here." Luffy chuckled a little.

"Yea, I guess I can be intense sometime. So how have you been?"

"Hold that thought Luffy. It appears that Nami's drink is almost empty, I better refill it." With that, the blond went and got the bottle of wine. _Same old Sanji._

Sanji walked over to the table, being as chill as possible. "Hello my fair maiden, I saw your glass was almost empty so I took it upon myself to refill it." Nami smiled and placed a hand on his cheek. "Thank you Sanji-kun," the theif sighed in the best seductive voice she could muster. Because the food was on the house (Luffy was going to pay anyway), there was no need for the flirtation, but it couldn't hurt to get Sanji wrapped tightly around her finger just for future reference.

"I shall make a special desert to satisfy your delicate palate." With that, it was back to the kitchen for curly brow. Nami loved guys like him, easy to manipulate and easy to control. Now it wasn't like she didn't think Sanji was a genuinely nice guy because he probably was. If his intent was to get some sort of sexual reward by being nice, Nami would have caught on almost instantaneously, but there was no deceit found. It also seemed he was really close to Luffy. Speaking of Luffy, for all he put on, the captain was hiding things and kept his secrets to himself. It was possible that he opened up to the cook, defiantly wasn't impossible considering the history. Was at least worth some investigating.

* * *

The air was quiet and still except for the loud snoring coming from the dinning room of the Baratie. Multiply bodies were laying on the floor, completely dead to the world, past out drunk or from exhaustion. Only a few were acually in a bed and even less were still awake. Nami was sleeping quite soundly her room, deciding the floor wasn't a nice resting place. Of the male members in the crew, all were sleeping on the thin carpet drooling like babies. All except Luffy, who was currently having a proper catch up with Sanji.

"So that's what happened after you left with Smoker," breathed Sanji in between a drag of his cigarette. Luffy nodded and took sip of tea, scratching the back of his head. Sanji looked at the rubber man with a little concern. Right now Luffy had his guard down considerably, letting his tiredness show, head slump more, eyes bloodshot, and even his straw hat was removed at the moment. "Are you getting enough sleep?" Luffy looked up and attempted to give a okay smile but it fell a bit flat. Sanji just shook his head and inhaled another puff of smoke. "You did more in a few months than I've done in 2 years. Got to say I'm a little jealous."

"Hmm, it wasn't that great of a story. I'll have plenty better ones to tell once I become Pirate King." There was a short pause filled unspoken questions. Luffy asked the most prevalent one. "Will you come make those stories with me? It would be a shame if I have to explain the All Blue to you when I get back," spoke Luffy with a touch of humor. The chief lowered his head and averted his eyes from Luffy's. There would be no problem with leaving, heck he would be more than happy to join the Straw Hat crew, but the only thing in the way was Zeff. Despite Sanji's best efforts, the head chef refused to acknowledge him and continued to insult his cooking. No matter how much he wanted to go, he needed that approval from the man who saved his life. From the person who he respected. To bad it didn't look like it would ever come, no matter what Sanji did.

"Listen Luffy, I would like to join you bu-"

"Hold it right there brat." Luffy and Sanji turned and looked at the door way just in time see Zeff walk in, wearing nothing but pants and a thermal undershirt. Nobody spoke for a few moments until Zeff started back up again. "Before you turn down that kids request I want to tell you something." The ex pirate sighed heavily and began. "Sanji, you're a good for nothing brat who has been nothing but a pain in my ass since day one." Sanji's mood turned sour on a dime, face already red with anger. What was with this old man.

"Listen you geezer! If that's what you came then fu-"

"Shut up and let me finish!" The blond stopped talking but loss none of the hatred in his eyes.

"Like I was saying, you're a terrible co worker who makes my life a nightmare. There isn't a day that goes by I don't regret saving you." There was a very long pause where no one even made eye contact, the sound of snoring engulfed the room for a full minute until Zeff finally broke the silence. "But your one hell of a cook."

Sanji and Luffy nearly broke their necks turning to look at Zeff. Luff with a look of surprise and happiness. Sanji with a look of surprise, happiness, pain, and sadness. Before the curly brow could come to tears, Zeff left the the room to spare him the shame and to hide his own tears. Luffy turned back to his friend and place hand on his shoulder, trying to be of some comfort. However this gesture completely broke the cook who began to let the tears fall like rain, emotions stirring like a mixer. For a unspecified amount of time, Sanji allowed himself to weep and be comforted. However it didn't last very long. After the tears dried, Sanji stayed hunched over, still and silent, making Luffy think he fell asleep until he stirred and looked up.

"Hey Luffy, is the position still open?"

* * *

It had been three days since the Straw Hat crew made it to the Baratie. Sanji had officially joined the crew but asked if he could stay a few more days while the restaurant was short staffed; of course Luffy saw no problem with this. While the days went on, Sanji slowly got to know his new crewmates, learning who he liked and disliked. Of course Luffy was alright, Nami was the embodiment of a angel, and Usopp seemed okay. Johnny and Yosaku weren't permanent members so they weren't of any consideration to him, plus the two were still slightly upset at the beating they got at his hands. So all and all, not that bad. Except for one. No matter how Sanji looked at the future, he couldn't see him and Zoro getting along. For instance, the first day they got into a argument over who was going to win that fight between them even though it was clearly going to be him. To bad Zoro kept saying that if the fight continued he would have won, refusing to see reason. Another reason was the swordsman constantly mocked his gentleman ways, making fun every time he catered to Nami's need before the others. Bull headed idiot.

Currently Zoro was outside on the Merry, training and lightly sparing with Luffy. The captain had invited the cook to train with them but he declined, opting to condition himself after the work had died down a little. Usopp and Nami were currently in the Baratie, having a light lunch of soup and greek salad, discussing what would be their next move when they left the sea restaurant. Nami told the sniper that she had already talked to Luffy and confirmed they would be heading to Conomi Islands. Usopp didn't mine in the least but he at least wanted to know if there was a particular reason behind it.

"Well, it's kinda my hometown and there is are a few things that I need to take care of before heading to the Grand Line," explained Nami to Usopp. That was good enough for him, so he dropped the subject for a different one. Whispering so as not to heard, Usopp asked the thief what she thought of Sanji. There was a long pause, filled with the chatter emanating from other tables. Finally, after some thought, she replied. "I don't hate him I guess and Luffy seems to trust him. Plus have you tried his food, it's pretty amazing if you ask me. When we leave tomorrow, I'm sure he'll fit right in."

Usopp scratched his chin, considering what Nami said. "Yea your probably right. But what about him and Zoro? I don't think they get along very well." Nami rolled her eyes.

"They are just being idiots with to much testosterone is what that is. All it means is that they like each other," told the girl, taking a sip of the smoothie Sanji had prepared for her. Usopp nodded and sipped his water. He had want to get a smoothie like Nami but Sanji said they ran out. The two went back to eating for a few minutes in silent before Luffy and Zoro came in from training. Zoro was sweating a bit and panting, Luffy didn't seem tired in the least. The green haired swordsman sat down, more than ready to begin eating. Luffy on the other walked to the kitchen, shrugging off his captain jacket and putting on a white coat like the other cooks at the Baratie.

"What is Luffy doing," asked Nami totally baffled. Zoro sighed and put the bread stick bowl down.

"He said the Baratie was a little short staffed so after the sparing he would be the waiter until the lunch rush was over." As Zoro finished his sentence, the pirate captain walked out the kitchen and to a table filled with noblemen who had been waiting slightly longer than tolerated apparently. In fact the fine gentlemen were making a huge ruckus just because of a few minutes without being pampered. Luffy took out a pad and asked them for their order.

"I'll have the Lobster Frittata with a side of shusi."

"Will you be having wasabi with that?"

"Mhm, what do you think sweetie," asked the slightly obese noble to who Luffy guessed was his wife. The women turned up her unusually long, witch like nose in repulse, shaking her head with a firm no. "Ok, no wasabi for me then. My dearest will have the oyster stew and a side dish of red snapper with extra white wine sauce." Luffy looked up from his scribbling with an eyebrow raised, his training with Sanji coming to mine.

"May I add that extra sauce will ruin that dish? You see, preparing a dish with such a high quality fish is a fine balan-"

"Did I ask for your opinion peasant," shouted the nobleman, face becoming red as an apple, and drawing attention from everyone in the restaurant, "Do your fucking job and take my order!" Spit flew everywhere, including on the very unhappy pirate captain, straw hat shadowing his eyes. Memories flooded Luffy's mine for a brief moment.

* * *

 **Flashback**

* * *

"I'm done with the basement and ready to finish the kitchen."

A very smug looking noblewomen turned around, shimmering gold dress hugging her a bit to tight around the waist, three inch black high heels allowing the women to tower over the painter that was redoing her home. The painter was apparently very famous on the art scene in the North Blue, know for bold and amazing work. Needless say, he had taken the entire Goa Kingdom by storm, everyone wanting to get a paint job by the man. Even though he was still a teenager, the kid was really known to be a wonder.

"Very good...what was your name again? Redding, correct?" The teen nodded with a grin. "Okay Redding, finish the kitchen before you leave today. Chop chop," commanded the noble, clapping her hands in the boy's face.

"May I suggest a nice lavender for the-"

"Shut your mouth commoner! Just because you are a talented decorator do not forget who is truly superior. My bloodline alone makes me leagues above you." The 'artist' looked down, eyes being shadowed by his straw hat, a smile that would make Akainu run away forming on his lips.

"Of course madame. What color do you want."

"I think crimson would do nicely," spoke the noblewomen turning on her heels and looking through the window. The painters smile became even more twisted and warped.

 _Shishishi, how appropriate._

* * *

"Of course sir," replied Luffy to the nobleman sporting a smile faker than the Marines sense of justice. The raven haired teen walked to the kitchen, the whole building stayed silent for a few more moments before the patrons slowly began conversation among themselves again. The Straw Hat crew were still in a state of shock over what the heck just happened.

"Wow. I honestly thought I was going to witness a disemboweling just now," admitted Usopp, breathing slightly heavier than normal. Nami, who had also been holding her breath, lightly hit the sniper in the back of the head.

"Luffy isn't some monster Usopp," the thief said firmly, "he can just be intense at times." More than anyone else on the ship, Nami had seen the captain's gentler side and wanted to defend him as such. Surprising Zoro nodded in agreement with Nami in between bites of food. Once again, another rare moment when the two were in the same thought pattern.

"Luffy is smarter than that," is all he said, reasoning being slightly (really) different from Nami's.

"You're right about that Marimo." Everyone looked up from the bubble of conversation and noticed Sanji standing behind them, taking a drag from a lit cigarette. Pulling up a seat to the table, the blond plopped down between Usopp and Nami. The newest crew mate appeared as if he would elaborate, but nothing more was spoken. The group continued to eat in silence until Sanji spoke up again.

"Oh yea, Luffy told me to tell you that we are leaving tomorrow morning. Also, he said something about-"

A very loud scream was heard from outside, the voices sounding a lot like Johnny and Yosaku. A few seconds later, the pirate hunting duo rushed into the building, tears and snot flying everywhere, wanted papers clutched in Johnny's hand. Yosaku tripped on the way to the Straw Hats and crashed head long into the table sending food flying in all directions.

"K-Kr-Kr-KRIEG!" Johnny kept yelling the name "Krieg" while running around the restaurant and holding Don Krieg's wanted poster. In the commotion customers started getting scared and yelling too, especially when a giant galleon started to form on the horizon. Everyone who wasn't a worker or the Staw Hats rushed from the establishment and to their various vessels, attempting to flee arguably the most feared pirate in the East Blue. Luffy walked out the kitchen holding multiple plates of food on his arms and head completely unaware of what the problem was.

"Ok, I got the Lobster...what the heck happened here?" Almost all the chairs were flipped as a testament to how fast everyone left, and even the table with his friends was smashed with the body of Yosaku on top. Shrugging, the rubber man dumped the food in his mouth, not wanting it to go to waste and headed back to the kitchen to fetch his captain jacket. After putting on his signature apparel, Luffy walked back to dinning room, hitting Johhny in the head while on his way to his crew so as to shut the man up.

"So I'm guessing Krieg showed up?" Zoro stood up with the rest on the crew.

"Apparently," spoke the swordsman, subconsciously touching the hilt of Wando. Luffy noticed the anxiety in the air and decided to put everyone's mine at rest. To bad Sanji beat him to it.

"Shitty pirate can try something if he wants to. The cooks here fight," and as if that was the magical signal, all the cooks came out the kitchen sporting knives and large cast-iron pans. Some even holding guns. Zeff walked downstairs with a scowl on his face, mustache twitching with anger and tension. Luffy could understand the troubled look of the older man. Krieg was known to be a underhanded but powerful man, whiling to do what ever it took to win. Bastard gave all pirates a bad name. The rubberman took it upon himself to rid the world of the rat forever. Without anymore contemplation, Luffy walked outside and drew his sword, commanding everyone to stand back.

"Krieg! Turn back and your life will be spared! Don't and I'll kill you!" A few moments pasted before a thunderous laughter came from the ship. A very large and imposing man jumped from the deck of the massive ship (which everyone noticed was in great disrepair) and landed on the fins of the Baratie. Another figure jumped down with him, this one being very familiar to only Luffy.

"Oh, hey Gin."

Gin, who had been very stoic up to this point, turned in the direction of Luffy and loss all color in the face. Images of the pirate's actions still very fresh in his mine, Gin tripped and fell, trying to scramble backwards. Don Krieg turned and looked at his first mate in surprise. On all accounts this was the first time Gin the "Cold Hearted Demon" showed any sort of fear and it wasn't as if there was anything remotely haunting about this place. In fact Gin himself had been the one that suggested coming to this particular restaurant when he had first shown up at the hideout the Krieg Pirates were laying low at, bringing enough food for only him and Don Krieg. Apparently the captain aboard the Navy vessel had been bragging all around the ship about going to the fanciest restaurant in the whole East Blue for days on end, giving the first mate the idea to bring his crew, seeing that it was far away from any Navy base and was filled to the brim with food. Plus it could even double as a replacement ship.

Ignoring the first mate for now, Krieg addressed the Baratie staff, "I'm not here to cause trouble! I only need 100 meals for my starving crew is all." This was met with some high skepticism from those present that knew anything about the pirate captain, especially Luffy.

"So you're telling me that after your men are all well and good, you will leave? In that busted up piece of shit? I don't buy that for one second, and hopefully no one else does," stated Luffy like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Mostly because it was. Krieg looked down on the young man who had spoken up and smirked to himself. _This must be the man Gin called 'Satan on the battlefield'. I expected more._ Although, before a conflict could arise, Zeff, who had gone into the kitchen a few minutes ago, arrived on the fins again with a good smelling sack.

"Here you go. One hundred meals," said the aging ex pirate, lifting the bag and throwing it beside Krieg. Luffy just shook his head and glanced at his crew behind him. The stare was clear to Zoro and Sanji. Be prepared to **fight**. The Straw Hats ignored the roar of disapproval from the cooks as they debated giving the enemy pirates food, which prompted Krieg to make it very clear this was never a request but a command. No, the Straw Hats were going into action at the moment to prepare for the inevitable showdown. Usopp and Nami boarded the Going Merry (Johnny and Yosaku were already on the boat) and began to move it about 100 meters out, as to not be in the splash zone of violence and to have the Straw Hat's sniper doing some suppressing fire. Luffy then stationed Sanji and Zoro near the front of the fins to be the first line of defense. Just as the raven haired captain finished arranging his crew in the most tactical method, a war cry came from the deck of Kriegs galleon. Apparently the once starving crew was now full of vitality.

Not even 15 seconds later after the enemy crew recovered, Don Krieg spoke up from the top of the ship. "You know what? I could use a new ship after all and a guide of the Grand Line would help too. Good thing both are right here for easy pick up. Isn't that right, Red Foot Zeff?" There was a deep silence after the threat was received. The quiet was then shattered by very loud laughing.

"Shishishishishi! Shishishishishi! So that's what happened to you and your crew! You went to the Grand Line and couldn't handle the heat. Now that's pathetic! What, could your gigantic crew not tackle it? Oh man now this is pure comedy gold! Shishishi, oh boy," Luffy wiped a tear that had formed below his eye. After recovering from the bout of hysteria, the Straw Hat captain pulled Green Destiny out of the sheath and raised it high in the air. "Hey, pops! Are these guys still customers?"

"Hell no."

"Cool beans," spoke Luffy through a smile. Then he turned back to Krieg's ship, sword still raised to the heavens. "Doctors orders!" Luffy then did a downward strike, cutting through the air with practiced precision, then followed up with a horizontal strike. Satisfied, Luffy put his sword back in the sheath, leaving everyone who hadn't seen this attack before in complete confusion.

"Hahaha! Is that what you call a att-" Don Krieg was cut off because his ship was currently splitting into fourths. Unfortunately, the ship wasn't the only thing splitting apart as members of the crew had been caught in the flying blade attack. Some split in two while others just lost limbs. Krieg himself had his ring and middle finger amputated off his left hand in the process. Even the ones who avoid the cut were injured from falling down in awkward positions, breaking bones, twisting tendons, bruising skin, and dislocating appendages. In fact the only one to avoid harm completely was Gin, who had jumped ship the very moment Luffy raised his sword, not waiting to see what was going to happen.

The massive ship crumbled into multiple pieces as it hit the water sending wreckage and debris everywhere, some unlucky pirates even got trapped under the rubble, drowning in the warm waters of the East Blue. Gin swam around the remains looking for his captain, found him, and helped Krieg to a platform that was still afloat. After surfacing, the Don coughed and sputtered out water and having just enough strength, pulled himself from the water and onto what use to be the deck. Gin too climb on the platform, finally able to take the time to check the status of what remained of his once great crew. Many started surfacing from below the watery depths, and moving towards pieces of the ship still floating. About 90 members made it. Only 80 of them could probably still fight efficiently. Looking at his side, the first mate saw that even Don Krieg, the strongest man in the world, had sustained injury to his left hand. It was all a bit surreal.

"Don Krieg." Gin shook the captain attempting to get any sort of response. After about a minute, the man spoke.

"I'm...going...t-to...kil-l...him." Gaining his second wind, Krieg stood at full stature and spit out some blood. "Ok pirate, lets dance."

* * *

Meanwhile Luffy was looking around the area, trying to spot the enemy captain. _Maybe I killed him._

"Damn Luffy," spoke Patty, voicing what everyone was thinking. Some still had their mouth agape in shock. The rubber man smiled and chuckled a bit until something disturbed his observation. There was killing intent coming from the water near Zoro.

"Hey Zoro, watch out for-," before he could finish, a large man with giant pearl embedded iron plates strapped to his person burst from the water and on to the fins of the Baratie. Then without hesitating struck Zoro in the chest with a smaller pearl embedded iron plate strapped to his hand.

"Cho Tennen Pearl Present!" The green haired swordsman coughed out blood, and was sent hurtling through the wall of the Baratie. The large man, who was surprisingly light on his feet, moved forward and struck Carne in the face with the iron plate, breaking the mans nose, jaw, and eye socket. Carne was sent into the planks of the wood, unrecognizable to even the people who worked along side him. Sanji upon seeing this, was in such a state of shock that the warning call from Luffy about a incoming attack went unnoticed. The tonfa hit Sanji square in the stomach, knocking the wind and daylights out of the chief, bringing him to a knee.

"Attack men!" yelled Krieg, indicating that a counter attack had begun. All the men who had survived the Luffys show of power rushed towards the Baratie, guns and weapons drawn in attack formation. The first man, other than Gin and Pearl, to get on the fins of the Baratie face exploded in flames, causing him to lose footing and fall in the water. The next man went down in a similar way, face erupting in fire. Another had smoke coming out of his mouth and eyes. Fire started shooting out of yet another mans ear. It seemed any one who got close to the Baratie had a unfortunate event befall them. Luffy smiled to himself, knowing very well who was the cause of this oppressing fire.

 _Good job Usopp._

Meanwhile on the fins, Sanji had successfully recovered from the hit he took and was going at it with Gin, dodging and weaving around each tonfa strike with a perfectly neutral face, even though inside he was burning with furry. Pearl was going against basically all the cooks, each looking to avenge their fallen brother Carne, who had been taken into the Baratie for treatment by Patty and Zeff. Sadly the cooks were not fairing to hot against Pearl, some even sustaining damage similar to the afore mentioned fallen brother. This only ended when Patty came rushing out the restaurant with a weird looking lobster bazooka. Tears still fresh on his face and voice spilling in emotion.

"Take this you bastard! Shokuatari Meatball!"

Patty fired the powerful weapon, aiming it directly at Pearls torso, intending to break the pirate's iron plated armor. Everyone in the line of fire jumped out the way, screaming cheers of success and victory, all thinking that the cannonball would surely take out this most worthy adversary. A large fire ball hit Pearl, engulfing his front in flames and smoke much to the glee of the defending Baratie members, believing this to be a victory. Sadly their delusions were revealed when a thunderous laughter sounded out.

"Hahahaha! You honestly thought a toy could hurt me, much less beat me! My mighty armor can tank cannon balls from ships! In fact I have not shed even one drop of blood ever in battle. I'm invincible! None of you could possibly-"

A very swift moving figure brushed past the audience of cooks, barely visible to the eye. Although the killing intent was clear as a bell. A green haired swordsman placed a sword in his mouth, preparing to unleash the most impressive Santoryu attack available.

"Three-Sword Style Secret Technique..."

By the time Pearl noticed the spinning blades, it was far to late.

"...Three Thousand Worlds!"

The effects were instantaneous. Each iron plate strapped to Pearls waist and torso shattered into millions of pieces. Blood sprayed high into the air and in multiple directions, raining down on those closest to the slaughter zone. The cuts along Pearls chest were so severe that bone was showing, giving everyone a lesson in human anatomy. The worst though had to be the fact that each collar bone was cut all the way through. Yes, Peal had more than made up for all the battles where he had escape unscathed. Zoro, quite proud of his work, sheathed each sword, carefully wiping the blood off each one.

The remaining pirates still standing, which weren't many because of Usopp, looked in shock as their second commander fell face forward on the planks. Lifeless. It appeared as if the hopes of the Krieg pirates were up to Gin and Don Krieg himself. The former was still in a heated battle with Sanji, and a losing battle at that. Though the two had started out evenly matched, Sanji was slowly taking the reins. Instead of attacking, it was now the blond curly brow on the offensive. It came to its climax when Sanji faked out Gin with a kick that seemed aimed at his right leg but was pulled back quickly and was replaced with a kick to Gins right side. Being the experienced fighter he was, Gin moved with the strike, nullifying much of the attacks strength. Still feeling the effects of fatigue, he pulled back from the fight to regain his breath.

Looking around Gin saw that cooks were regrouping along with Luffy's crew members. The man that slayed Pear leveled a glare at Krieg's first commander, daring him to continue the fight. Sanji lit a cigarette, looking as if this fight was already over. Then there was Monkey D. Luffy, who had barley even done anything yet, oozing with power. Yes, it had become clear to Gin that there was no way to win this fight alone. Looking back at his captain, the first mate called out for possibly some backup.

"Don Krieg! I can't beat them on my own. I need assistance." Don Krieg visible shook with frustration and anger. What was this? Had Gin lost his spine recently? It didn't matter right now concluded Don Krieg. What was important was amassing a new crew and taking over the Grand Line. But to do that, these pest needed to die first.

The pirate captain clutched his left hand, still feeling the pain of having two fingers cut off. In time Krieg would heal and be able to fight melee style again, but for now a quick long range weapon would be most efficient. To be completely honest, the Don had been a little nervous about this fight, seeing that these were (albeit still insects) the toughest opponents to be found in the East Blue and that Hawkeye had effectively cut his crew by over 95 percent. Despite this, a cocky grin took over Kriegs face because he knew this attack wouldn't fail. There was also the added benefit of seeing his enemies wither and struggle to take their last breath.

Every Krieg pirate still conscious began placing mask over their face including Gin who personally hated to win this way. Still his faith in Krieg was unwavering, respect over flowing. Although it was a shame Luffy would have to die to.

"It's been fun," yelled Don Krieg to Luffy and crew, "but now it is time to die at my superior hand." The pirate captain place a gas mask on his face. "This nerve gas will send you straight to hell! MH5 bomb!"

The cooks loss their complete shit. Some running towards the Baratie entrance in hopes of living, others jumped in the water praying it would save them from the gas. Luffy shook his head in disgust. _How many people have you killed like this? How many fights have you won using such a dirty method, bastard. It's time to pay up._ The Straw Hat captain disappeared from view, activating Soru and Geppo, enabling him to soar through the air at jet like speed at which even an observation user would have a hard time seeing him. The rubber man stretched an hand out, intercepting MH5 with his right hand, then slowing down in speed, he used his other hand to rip Kriegs mask off, and to end it all, Luffy shoved the whole thing down Don Kriegs throat, breaking his jaw in the process. Right before the bomb went off in the pirate's windpipe, Luffy pulled him close and whispered in Kriegs ear.

"Rot in hell Krieg. Don't worry, I'll be there soon enough." Then with that, Luffy jumped, kicking off Krieg chest and back flipping onto a floating platform. When he looked back up, the sight of Krieg looked downright horrific. There was a gigantic bulge in his neck as the bomb tried to detonate in the compressed area of Kriegs pharynx. Tiny pockets of gas were slowly seeping out of Dons mouth, nose, ears, and even eyes. Speaking which, his eyes seemed to be inflating, blood squirting out the pupils, blood leaking from the ears as well. The color of Kriegs skill was deep purple, a by product of a lack of oxygen causing blue and blood filling his pores causing red.

Above all else though, the worst of all was Krieg's neck area. The only way to describe it is to picture a frog. Now picture a frogs throat when they croak. See the way their throat expands outwards. Well, now you know what Krieg looks like. But because human skin does have a elastic limit, the pressure soon became far to great. First, his eyes swelled and exploded like water balloons. Next, his skin bubbled up like contusions, each one bursting in rapid succession. Then, last of all, the top of Don Kriegs head swelled to the point where it appeared to be a watermelon and... exploded, sending gray matter and gas high in the air. The results were immediate, as the once mighty Don fell forward in the water, sinking into the East Blue water. Dead.

Luffy turned around, grinning of all things, to see if everything was okay with his crew. It didn't exactly seem to be so sadly. Sanji's eyes were blown wide open in shock, completely ridged with mouth agape. Zoro looked like a ghost flew through his soul, face permanently frozen in horror. Hmm, that probably wasn't a good sign. Using observation haki, Luffy could grasp very easily that Usopp was in the middle of puking and Nami had fainted from shock along with Johnny and Yosaku. The cooks seemed to be fairing worst. Each staff member was vomiting their guts out into the sea. The only cooks not effected were the ones that were inside, tending to Carne.

Gin was the worst though. Shock didn't even describe what was dancing across his face. It could be more likened to not having a soul anymore or the look a man gives when his ball are cut off. Gin fell to his knees losing any remaining will to continue living, much less fighting. Apparently the remaining crew felt similar as they to sank into kneeling position, utterly defeated. The Krieg Pirates were finished.

Luffy geppo'd over to the Baratie and began to call the Going Merry back. Upon remembering that everyone on the Merry was either fainted or still puking, Luffy shrugged and looked at Sanji. "What should we do with those guys," asked Sanji, pointing a thumb at the now Kriegless pirates who looked like a basket of loss puppies. Luffy asked for a boat that the remaining pirates could leave in, feeling slightly sorry for the men. No matter how bad he was, losing a captain was a great blow to anyone. Following his request, the cooks provided a boat and a few provisions so they could make it to the next island.

Moving like ghouls without a purpose, the thirty men that were left boarded the tiny boat and prepared to leave. Gin, who was now captain, was the last one to board but was stopped by who had placed a hand on his shoulder. Gin turned and looked at the man that killed his captain. Oddly he held no resentment.

"Hey Gin, sorry for how things turned out." The new captain gave a weak smile.

"It's okay Luffy. This is the way of pirates. If you are not strong enough to prevail in battle, then the consequences are usually a swift, painful death. You simply protected your crew and friends, how could I possibly fault you for that?" The Straw Hat's captain grinned a bit, shading his eyes with Shanks hat. Gin turned back and got in the small boat. Just before setting off Luffy once again called out to Gin.

"Hey Gin, catch!" The man reached out and caught the small rounded object that Luffy tossed at him. Opening his hand, Gin saw it was a baby den den mushi.

"Call me if you ever need help." Gin smiled at the gesture.

"Will do. And if you ever need some extra man power, give me a dial." With that, Gin and his crew set off, slowly disappearing over the horizon.

Zoro walked over to Luffy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Oi captain, what was that all about?" Luffy grinned in response to Zoro's skeptical expression.

"You can never have enough allies Zoro. Make connections whenever possible, that's my motto among others." The swordsman nodded, agreeing somewhat with the sentiment. It was then that the Going Merry finally sailed back towards the Baratie, it's inhabitants still appeared to be shaken up though. Usopp looked very wobbly on his feet, while Nami appeared to be ready to faint again. Luffy ran to check on them.

"Yo Usopp, that was the best shooting I've ever seen! Amazing," shouted Luffy, stars in his eyes. Even Zoro and Sanji had to agree, both nodding in concurrence with Luffy. This unexpected praise snapped Usopp out of his stupor in a instant. In fact all sickness shed off and the sniper appeared to have grown 6 inches taller.

"Weeeeelllllllllllllll, they don't call me Usopp the Sniper King for nothing. In fact I once..." and that as where everyone stopped listening. It wasn't even because the following story would be outlandish and completely false. No, no, no. Because no matter how dumb, Luffy would still pay attention and laugh with Usopp, even though no one knew why. No, it was because what could be the end for one of the Straw Hat's crew just appeared on the horizon. Zoro grinned and began to unwrap his bandanna. _The time has finally come. Worlds Greatest or death._

The coffin shaped boat slowly came closer and closer, somehow transferring all the rubble and wreckage. Then once it was 30 meters away from the restaurant, Hawkeye jumped from his boat and on to a platform. The very sight of the Warlord was causing some to get on their knees and begin to cry. Others simple went inside to pretend this wasn't happening. Luffy scratched his hair in neutrality. _Well this is it._

"Hello Hawkeye."

* * *

 **A/N:** Where was Usopp hiding all that skill, am I right? Yes, that flashback has great significance to the Red Phantom mystery.

Tell me in the comments if you think Krieg finally got justice. Also, tell me if I failed with the fight scenes in this chapter. Who wanted to see the end of that Zoro and Sanji fight? Haha, all in good time.

Last thing. Gin will be scene again and will play a major role.

 **The Patient One:** Good eye. I'm a little surprised that you are the only one that caught that plot point I have not mentioned directly yet. It may or may not be revealed in the next chapter.

 **Next chapter:** The day the East Blue boiled.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Sorry this chapter took so long, hope it's worth the wait. Also were officially M rated now. The rating doesn't come from this chapter, more like precaution for the Arlong Arc because it's going to get dark. You thought Luffy was angry at Don Krieg? Wait till he hears Nami's whole story. Also some saying Luffy will kill anyone who pisses him off, which isn't true. If someone who he thinks is really beneath him talks shit, let's say Bellamy, he probably will just brush it off.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

The sky in the East Blue was becoming partly cloudy at a very fast rate. Temperature, pressure, and wind speed were all changing at once, although this went unnoticed by everyone, even Nami in all her weather wisdom. Gods among mortal men were about to clash, and shit would hit the fan.

Zoro, grinning ear to ear, even with full knowledge that he won't be able to win this fight. Oh but what a fight it will be. Hands already getting anxiety at the prospect of clashing with the world's best, he reached a hand towards his Wando. Luffy snapped him out this trance by putting his arm in front of the swordsman, effectively stopping any forward progress.

"Hold on to your reins Zoro, I want to get some info first," spoke the captain, soft enough that only Zoro heard. Although begrudgingly, the man complied and began doing some deep breathing instead. Luffy turned back towards Hawkeye, "Oi, what is someone like you doing in the East Blue?" Some in attendance gasped or tensed at the harsh and crude way Luffy addressed the Warlord, even his own crew was throwing sideways glances his way. For all their worrying though, I didn't appear as if any offense was taken.

"I was on my to finish an insect that wondered into the Grand Line but it seems I was beaten to the punch." Hawkeye looked around for a moment, studying his surroundings. The corpses, the ship, the wreckage; slowly a picture of what might have happened appeared in his head but that left on very important question, considering what sea he was in. "Who is the one that cut this ship with a flying blade attack." Based on the members present, you could make good assumption but looks can be deceiving.

Everyone looked over at Luffy until he finally spoke up. "That was me." Mihawk turned piercing eyes in his direction, immediately analyzing the man who was already very powerful to only be no name pirate or bounty hunter. It was possible that he wasn't from the East Blue but then it was even more unlikely that Hawkeye would not know who he was in that case. But thinking more, he did recall a story Shanks had told him about a strange boy who he left his straw hat with.

* * *

"I'm telling you Hawkeyes, the kid had the exact same look Roger had. It was insane!"

"I still don't see why you would bet your own arm on that." Shanks knocked back another swig of sake and began to laugh.

"Didn't think you would," spoke the Red Haired captain, smiling with all teeth and putting an arm around Hawkeye. "S-sometimes y-you got to take risk," slurred out Shanks, alcohol taking its toll on the pirate. "Hahahaha." The future Warlord attempted and failed to remove his friends arm from around his torso.

"That carelessness is going to get you killed one day," sighed Hawkeye, more to himself than Shanks. This did actually work in getting his attention though as Red Hair stopped laughing and replaced his expression with something more somber, although his grip only got tighter much to Hawkeyes discomfort.

"Yea, maybe. Hey, at least you'll get to say I told you so, am I right?" Mihawk looked into Shanks eyes for brief second before looking forward again at the party currently happening on the small island. The swordsman took the bottle of sake from Shanks hand and drank the rest before speaking again.

"Red Hair, when that day comes even I will not say I told you so." The two sat in silence for a while before Hawkeye spoke again. "Tell Lucky to get his ass over here with more sake." Shanks looked up and grinned before busting out in full on laughter to the point of tears, pulling his friend closer yet.

"Lucky! More sake," shouted the pirate captain over the sound of the music, smile splitting his face in two. A small smile even formed on Hawkeye.

* * *

"Boy, where did you get that hat from?"

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy and I'm holding this hat for Shanks."

So it was true. This was the child Red hair wouldn't shut up about. Impressive but a little odd considering this wasn't the happy-go-lucky kid that had been described. No, this kid had the aura of a demon and a glare that could scare battle hardened Marines into submission and talk about Haki. It was literally flowing off in waves even though it was clear he was trying to hide it. But people did change over 10 years, especially and impressionable child. God only knows what might have happened to cause such a drastic change in character.

"Excuse me Hawkeye," yelled Zoro, brushing past Luffy and walking to the forefront. "I would like to battle you for the title of World's Greatest Swordsman." The request seemed more like a command though because Zoro was already jumping onto the floating remains of Krieg's ship before hearing Hawkeye's response. This confidence intrigued Mihawk though because it didn't come out as foolishly arrogant like most who dared to challenge him. No, it was the request of a man who recognized the danger and odds but still fought with head held high. Honorable but sorely mistaken

"Why do you challenge me insect? Fame? Bravery?"

"No! My ambition! To be the World's Greatest Swordsmen and to keep a promise to a fallen friend." Zoro then drew Wando and placed the treasured sword in his mouth. Unfortunately upon drawing the two other swords they crumbed and fell apart. The swordsman yelled string of curses, remembering that Sanji had cracked them a couple of days ago and the fight against Pearl must have been all they could take before breaking. _Shit_.

"Zoro catch," shouted Luffy, throwing two katana cases at Zoro, which he snatched out the air. He decided not to question it as he turned back to face Hawkeye, readying for an all-out battle. What happened next shock and irritated him to the point of boiling. Instead of taking out the Mighty Black Blade resting snugly on his back, Hawkeye had yanked off his golden cross shaped kogatana and unsheathed the blade. The very act of fighting with that toy would be a blimpish on Zoro's pride not soon forgotten.

"What the hell do you think you're doing," asked the Three Style User, furious that the Warlord wouldn't fight seriously.

"This is the smallest thing I had. Sorry," Hawkeye replied in a saddened sarcastic tone. Zoro hit his limit for insults. Really though, there was only so much one man could take. Especially Zoro.

"Fine but you better not be upset when you end up dead." It was almost like Zoro forgot what Luffy said about this man. He ran towards Mihawk, getting into position for his signature attack. "Oni..." The swords swung into place, glinting in the sun as they sailed over head and under, eventually intersecting for the finishing touch. Just as the swords were perfectly aligned the attack was stopped cold dead in its tracks with the tip of Hawkeye's kogatana.

 _What the hell. This is just like when Luffy stopped my attack! Fuck, I thought I got stronger. Is the World really so far off?!_

"How could someone from the East Blue, the weakest of all seas, challenge me? You know nothing of the world."

 _Dammit!_

Zoro once again began to assault Hawkeye with a flurry of strikes and attacks, throwing anything on the wall and hoping it will stick. But that kogatana was fucking **everywhere**! The master swordsman was gracefully moving backwards, to the right, left, avoiding any and harm easily. Then Zoro remembered what Luffy said.

* * *

Zoro was thrown back on his ass, once again dispatched by Luffy. He was panting hard and his breathing was extremely labored. In fact he could no longer even stand. The frustration was starting to get to him.

"How," Zoro screamed to the top of his lungs at the sky, making everyone on deck flinch. "How will I ever be able to hit you if you can predict all my moves?! It's fucking impossible!" Luffy was a bit surprised at the outburst but guess he really shouldn't be. This must be really infuriating for the one without Observation Haki. Kind of reminded him of Ace before his brother had developed Observation. Although Ace had more than made up for it in Armament Haki.

"I guess it would seem that way, although Observation and even Armament Haki can be over taken with speed and shear power. My Haki is strong enough to not allow that though. Or at least not by you."

That didn't seem to make Zoro feel any better but the swordsman got up anyway, ready to fight once again.

* * *

 _Dammit, I'm not quick enough! Even after all my training I'm nowhere near fast enough._

Zoro despite himself, despite the futility of this fight, he pushed himself to go faster and harder. The blades were blurring, eyes red with intensity and anger at his own inability. It only got worse when Hawkeye still didn't seem to be fretting in the least. The tiny blade was still everywhere at once, blocking each and every strike. Then Hawkeye moved out the way rather quickly, causing Zoro to stumble forward. The Warlord chopped him in the back of the neck almost causing him to black out completely. He was however able to regain his footing ultimately.

 _If I could just defeat this man!_

Luffy had been looking onward this entire time in sadness. Nobody wanted to see their friend get killed in a fight that everyone knew the outcome of. Well maybe not everyone, as some of the cooks seemed to think this was an actual contest. At this point it seemed that Zoro had been nearly pierced through the heart. Fuck, please don't die Zoro.

As the fight kept going, Luffy did see a positive silver lining. Hawkeye did appear to be having change in judgement for Zoro. Something that almost mimicked respect. The Straw Hat was on edge as the fight appeared to be drawing to a climaxed close as Zoro's two borrowed swords were broken. Luffy was actually surprised they held up as well as they did considering he found them on the corpses of some random Krieg pirate.

 _Wait, what's going on. The fight is over_. More dark clouds blanketed the sky.

"Scars on the back is a swordsman shame."

"Well said." And with that, Hawkeye slashed Zoro deeply across the chest.

Everyone on the Straw Hat crew screamed out the swordsman name. Everyone on the Baratie gasped. But as for Luffy, time had...stopped. Everything was a bluish hue and nothing moved. He couldn't believe what was happening. So early in his adventure and one of his crew mates was already gone. Now Luffy wasn't basing this on what he saw. No, it was what he **_felt_**. It was because Luffy could no longer feel Zoro's voice, the voice all things gave off, that Luffy lost his fucking mine.

The blue turned red around the edges, then the rubber man could only see crimson. Rage consumed him completely and fully; red Haki flowed around and through him, like tributaries to a lake, like a lake to an ocean. Nobody killed his nakama. Hell nobody hurt his nakama. Dual or not, Warlord or not. Without thinking Luffy drew Green Destiny, the dragons on the blade seemed to glow with anticipation. Then with his sights set and clear, he blurred towards Hawkeye at unfathomable speed.

Mihawk was about to put his sword away when he felt a killing intent stronger than the angriest sea king and the Haki made him think Shanks had shown up. Of course all these thoughts happened in less than a split second. The Warlord brought Yoru up in a defensive block just in time before impact.

* * *

 **2 hours before**

* * *

A marine ship cut through the choppy waters of the East Blue. The ship was currently being steered towards the sea restaurant Baratie to investigate about a new pirate crew that had attacked Lieutenant Fullbody. It was at first assumed that the attack had been a retaliation by Krieg to Fullbody for capturing his first mate, but an eye witness confirmed this was not the case. The pirate had a skull and cross bones with a straw hat, clearly not with Krieg. Further investigation revealed that the attack had happened because Fullbody attacked first.

What was really alarming though was that the crew of the pirate ship didn't all attack. It had only been who had been assumed to be the captain that was the one who completely destroyed an entire ship full of marines. For the little that did survive, Fullbody being one of them although he was in a coma, said that the straw hat man was like a demon from hell, first flying over to the vessel then massacring the inhabitants. This particular level of strength wasn't common in the East Blue, especially for an unknown crew, so it had raised some red flags. Commodore Purinpurin of Navy branch 77 had been asked to check things out, although they had clear instructions to not engage.

"Commodore! We are approaching the sea restaurant Baratie but there appears to be some sort of commotion happening." The elite East Blue marine raised an eye brow and asked for the telescope. A blurry image of the Baratie slowly became clearer and along with this so did Don Krieg's ship and the ship of the straw hat man. Commodore Purinpurin nearly dropped the looking glass, yelling to his crew to get East Blue headquarters on the phone. As soon as the den den mushi was brought to him, he began relaying everything.

The fight between Don Krieg and Luffy went on record, headquarters asking many times if they were seeing this correctly. Before the Navy ship could even finish finalizing what was happening, Hawkeye showed up out of nowhere and began dueling with who had been confirmed to be Pirate Hunter Zoro. The fight didn't last long though as Zoro was cut across the chest and thrown in the water. When asked if he was dead, the Commodore could not confirm. The craziest of all was about to happen though. As soon as Zoro's body sunk beneath the water, an explosion erupted out in all directions made of pure energy. Lighting had just struck where Hawkeye was standing.

* * *

Luffy's Green Destiny clashed with Hawkeye's Yoru resulting in an explosion of Haki equivalent to a punch from Whitebeard. A wave of red and green energy shot out in all directions, the heat was almost unbearable and the force caused waves high enough to push the Baratie and Going Merry back. The platform underneath Hawkeye and Luffy crumbled and evaporated, forcing the two to separated, jumping backwards each landing on an individual floating footholds.

"Hawkeye! No one hurts my crew! No one!" Luffy was well passed pissed and now had entered some sort of rage mode. Red Haki continued to flow in out of his body, eyes the shade of blood. "Fuck! You're dying here today bastard." The Warlord simply turned and looked at the Going Merry, uninterested in the pirate.

"Look, your friend is still very much alive."

Luffy turned around to see Zoro being dragged on the ship, coughing and sputtering yes but alive. Almost immediately the red Haki disappeared, Luffy's rage diminished into nothing. Instantly, the captain reached out with Observation, letting it soak in that his first mate was still alive. Although the atmosphere was less tense, the dark storm clouds that continued to blot out the sun remained swirling in the sky. As soon as he was aboard, Nami and Usopp began treating him with bandages and cleaning the wound.

"It is too soon for you to die. My name is Juracule Mihawk! Find yourself, true world, become stronger! No matter how long it will take, I will await you in my strongest form! Surpass this sword! Surpass me! Roronoa Zoro!"

Luffy couldn't believe what he was hearing. Hawkeye had not only acknowledged Zoro, but had decided that he would be the one to take on the Greatest Swordsman title. For him to say this truly was amazing. Mihawk now turned his gaze on Luffy. "What's your mission kid?"

"To be the king."

"A hard course, one even harder than surpassing me." Luffy palmed his sword.

"Like I care." It was then a commotion was heard on the Merry.

"Luffy, can you hear me?" Multiple voices told Zoro to save his strength and stop talking, but he acted as if he couldn't hear them. His Wando was raised high in the air."

"I hear you Zoro."

"Sorry for worrying you captain," spoke Zoro with the shallow breaths he could grasp. "If I don't become the greatest swordsman you'd have a dilemma now, right?" Luffy's eyes widened, surprised he had remembered that and that this was the first thing Zoro thought of after his defeat. The swordsman coughed out some blood but was determined to continue despite protest of crew members. "I will...I will never lose again!" Tears began streaming from his face as the raw emotion came out. "Until I defeat him and become the greatest swordsman, I'll never be defeated anymore! Any problems with that, Pirate King?!"

Luffy broke out into a big grin, "None at all." Hawkeye nodded to himself, smile on his face.

"Good team. Hope we meet again," and with that, the Warlord began walking back to his boat to set off again until Luffy called out to him.

"Hawkeye! I wish to challenge you to a dual!"

Usually this was the point where the Warlord would decline because he had accomplished what he had set out to do, cure his chronic boredom. Also, Mihawk had the opportunity to meet Zoro a very strong willed man that he hoped would take his title one day, and that didn't happen often. Yes, it was best to end on a excellent note such as that. But then again, this just wasn't another fool wanting a quick death. No, Monkey D. Luffy was strong, and that sword was just as interesting. A dual would be anything but menial. "Why do you wish to battle me?"

"The whole reason I set out to sea was because of Red Hair Shanks, and I hear you use to battle him quite frequently in the New World. It would be a great honor of mine to battle my hero's ex rival." Luffy was grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck, almost like he was embarrassed. "Also I haven't had the opportunity to test my sword on a strong opponent, so there is that to," the Straw Hat said a little quieter than the first reason. Hawkeye grinned a bit. This was sure to be exciting.

"Yes, I will dual you Monkey D. Luffy," spoke Hawkeye, removing the Black Blade from its holdings. Unlike Zoro, the Warlord didn't try the tiny blade, knowing that doing so would prove foolish. Yoru gleamed as it moved, even though there was virtually zero light because of the dark clouds that only grew thicker and thicker. Luffy jumped from his platform, landing on Hawkeye's with graceful precision, making no noise. When Luffy looked up, his eyes had grown very serious. Both he and Hawkeye were now locked in a staring match, each one analyzing. Thunder rumbled around the area, a slight breeze ruffled Luffy's captains' jacket.

Nami, who was watching with great interest along with everyone else, became puzzled. "Why isn't anyone moving?" Zoro, who was currently propped up against the mast, shook his head.

"The battle has already started. Right now as we speak, a physiological war is happening, each trying to fake the next. Looking for the closes sign of movement, a clear tensing of the leg to signal an incoming attack. Yes, the battle is in full swing."

Eye in eye. Breathe in breath. Everything thing around began to fade away into white static except for Mihawk, he was the only thing that mattered at the moment. He was life and death. The two choices in an ultimatum. The whole world revolved around him. The only man on Earth. So when Hawkeye moved, no, no even moved. When Hawkeye tensed, a movement so small that no one it was nearly non-existent, it shattered Luffy's entire reality. It sent him the all-important signal that there was attack coming and he was going to have to retaliate quickly. The pirate gripped his blade with both hands, nerves calm as a river, and in unison with his opponent he attacked.

"Mortal Draw!"

In an instant the standoff was over, both men on opposite sides from where they started with backs facing their each other. Both men stayed perfectly still, waiting to see what the outcome of this would be. Then their eyes widened in different levels of shock.

 _He withstood it!_

 _I withstood it!_

An enormous thunderclap shattered the air, shaking everyone's core. The platform underfoot crumbled and turned to dust because of the raw power that was unleashed. The shock wave that was emitted was strong enough to turn the sea into turmoil and cause hurricane level winds. Everyone on both the Merry and Baratie grabbed hold on the railing for dear life as the waves grew higher and higher, some even measuring 10 meters in height and 8 in width.

Usopp, who was grabbing on the mast for dear life looked up at the sky to pray for deliverance but saw something irregular. "Everyone look at the clouds!" The ones on the Going Merry could barely hear him and the Baratie cooks couldn't hear at all but once Sanji looked up from gripping the rail, everyone followed.

"What the hell..?" Everyone had similar reactions of confusion. The very heavens seemed to be divided straight down the middle. Zoro, who had refused to be taken below deck injuries be damned, looked in awe at the sight. This is the Grand Lines power, to influence the very elements. Meanwhile, Luffy and Hawkeye had begun the practice of jumping from platform to platform, striking at each other every time they came within range. Luffy was forced to dodge each time the Warlord sent a powerful flying blade technique as he was too weak to deflect the attack at the moment. Their movement were quick as lighting, each clash of metal brought forth another deafening crack of thunder.

The dragons on Luffy's sword were glowing with ethereal power, feeding off Luffy's power with each attack. Thank goodness that the rubber man had nearly endless stamina to spare. Yes, the blade was cursed but it's amazing cutting power came from that fact. Combined with a strong will and large amount of energy, the Green Destiny could actually cut anything. Even diamond. Although a move with that much cutting power would drain Luffy completely and make it impossible to use Haki for a few minutes.

Luffy and Hawkeye landed on the same platform, both maintaining eye contact at all times. Neither warrior even noticed nor cared about the raging storm around them, not even when the ocean of water above them finally broke and sheets of cold raindrops began pouring down. The Straw Hat captain shot forward, increasing the amount of power inside Green Destiny, causing the sword to glow brightly.

"Royal Evisceration!" Luffy preformed a series of rapid jabs at Hawkeye who able to evade each strike. Growing angry, Luffy willed himself to move quicker even though he was already using enhanced gear second and soru. Green Destiny blurred, moving so fast enough that even Luffy couldn't keep track with his Observation and causing it to catch fire. This speed actually forced Hawkeye to parry the blows which gave Luffy such a sense of pride that he almost missed the counter strike. Almost.

As soon as Hawkeye began changing his stance mid parry, Luffy also crouched lower so that when Mihawk unleashed a ripple of green energy he was able to jump out the way and let the attack rip the platform to ribbons. Hawkeye disappeared and in front of Luffy midair, using what must have been impossible speed for Luffy to not be able to follow. Before Luffy could geppo backwards the blade of Yoru cut deeply into his side, the Warlord then continued to move upward. At about 6 feet above Luffy, he somersaulted and sent three powerful attacks his way.

With his geppo, Luffy is barely able to weave and roll of harm's way in the sky. The last beam nearly cutting his left arm off but instead ripping the sleeve off his jacket. After, he immediately looks for Hawkeye with Observation, finding the Warlord on a floating platform barely big enough for one man. Luffy raised his sword, ready to continue until something unexpected happened.

The sea, wind, rain, lighting, it all calmed. The enormous waves were dispersed like nothing and the gale force winds died, even the storm clouds thinned. Hawkeye looked directly at Luffy. "You have fought well young pirate."

These words were heard by all. Now that the storm had past, you could nearly hear a pin drop, everyone was at full attention. Only a few actually knew the meaning though. Zoro's eyes widened in fear for his captain. Hawkeye was saying that the fight was over. Whatever the next attack was, it would end this here and now.

The Warlord using both hands for the first time, sent a slash at Luffy that trumped anything seen thus far. It was as massive as 5 normal attacks and instead of being green this one was a deep purple in tint, appearing to have a mine of its own as it ripped through the air gaining more and more power. The heat coming off the attack was so intense that even the ones on the marine ship a few miles out felt burned and the light was three time brighter than the sun. Even the sound made was horrifying, like millions of people scraping their nails on a blackboard. All of this was headed directly at Luffy.

Having no choice but to rely on all the power within Green Destiny, the pirate captain unleashed all of his power, red conquers Haki swirled around and into the sword held firmly in both hands. Three rings of green fire appeared around the blade, glowing with a cold intensity. Luffy's eyes turned from black to emerald green along with his Haki and even the veins of his body, the spirit of the sword was in complete control. Then, with resolve absolute, he raced towards the enormous purple light, towards the power of the freaking world. On lookers marveled at what had appeared around Luffy, an enormous jade serpent like dragon made of pure Haki had manifested taking up the other half of the sky.

"Secret Destiny Technique: Jade Dragon Fang!"

Luffy swung the sword with all the strength possible, the Haki dragon moved in unison with Green Destiny, opening its mouth and shrieking out a roar that resonated throughout the East Blue. As soon as the fiery blade clashed with Hawkeye's attack, a crack formed in reality and it appear that a rip opened in the air. Luffy's fire vs Mihawk's energy. The result was...explosive.

Hell itself hadn't actually been unleashed and it wasn't really the apocalypse, but at that moment, there was no one who cared or knew the difference. Each second a new wave of heat would wash over the East Blue, causing mass evaporation of sea water and destruction of marine life. Many of the cooks had retreated into the Baratie hoping to avoid heat stroke, only a few stayed to marvel. Those sticking it out on Merry wouldn't dream of missing this, heat be damned.

 _Luffy...please don't die_.

For Luffy, everything was almost dreamlike. Even though his teeth, entire body really, was vibrating extremely violently. Even though his eyes were squeezed shut out of desire to not be blinded. Even though the heat was far greater than any human could live through. Luffy felt nothing, only the will to live coursing through his veins. Opening his emerald eyes, the rubber man pushed with everything possible.

" **Aaaahhhhh**!" The jade conquers Haki dragon roared along with Luffy, one final push breaking through Hawkeye's attack. Everyone looked in awe as the dragon collected speed and continued spiraling downward, a gigantic ball of pure white energy in its mouth. Hawkeye's eyes widened a bit, he jumped several meters backwards and landed on his coffin shaped boat.

As soon as the ball of energy hit the water, it began to break apart. Stray beams of light shot out in all directions before finally the whole thing collapsed in on itself, resulting in a shock wave with a destructive force of a young Whitebeard. Blinding light sent all through the East Blue, even being visible on the next island over. Millions upon millions of sea water was evaporated in less than an instant, shooting scalding hot mist high into the air all through the area, turning the place into a fucking sauna and reducing visibility to zero. The sea was literally boiling.

* * *

The Going Merry been sent flying in the blast, being displaced a full nautical mile away from the fighting was last. It had been everything in their ability to not be thrown overboard. Really, it was a miracle that the ship was not turned upside down. God only knew where Baratie ended up. Everyone was shaken at the turn of events but not injured in any important way. Zoro wasn't really doing so hot, what with being burned by heat, then soaked by rain, blinded by light, and now feeling suffocated by mist. Not mention he already had a life threatening energy before this.

"Hey, you okay Marimo," called Sanji from somewhere on the ship. The swordsman sat up, wincing as he did from pain.

"Yea I'm good. Oi, Usopp you still alive?" No response. "Long nose!" No response. Zoro attempts to stand but after having a bolt of pain run through his abdomen, it was back to the floor.

"Sweet angel Nami, are you okay?" No response. This game of Marco Polo was only because of the mist, making it impossible to see one centimeter in front of you. "Na-" The sound of coughing was heard somewhere on the ship.

"Ack, yea I'm fine. What the- I found Usopp, he's just unconscious." Well that was a relief, everyone was accounted for from the crew. Johnny and Yosaku still had not been heard from though. Zoro got a little worried for his bounty hunting friends.

"Oi, Johnny! Yosaku!" No response. "Johnny! Yosa-"

"Were right here Aniki," shouted Johnny, apparently speaking both him and Yosaku. Thank goodness thought Zoro, being able to lay on his back easy knowing everyone was fine. Well, all but one. The captain was still unaccounted for. Until this steam cleared a little it would be impossible to search, so hopefully he would fine them. Hopefully.

* * *

Luffy too had been blow backwards by the shock wave, having no strength to continue staying airborne with geppo. He was sent careening in the opposite direction of the Merry, blacking out until Luffy felt himself skipping on the water and finally coming to rest on his back. Yes, Luffy was floating on his back even though he had eaten a devil fruit. The only reason it was possible was because of his special captains' jacket that Makino had sewn out of special material that didn't resist water, it repelled the very substance. It was said that certain devil fruit users in the New World would use the rare material to make life jackets. How Luffy got enough thread to make a jacket was story in itself.

The pirate placed his hands on the water and push himself up, gloves also being made of the special material. Then Luffy finally made it to his feet, yes standing on water. Unlike the jacket, these boots that allowed him to stand on water were a parting gift of Ace. His brother had said that the soles were made of a wood with 5 times the level of buoyancy of regular wood. Learning how to balance had been the most frustrating weeks of his life.

Luffy looked around, not able to see anything. That usually wouldn't be a problem but he couldn't see. His Observation was completely shot to hell at the moment, leaving him blind. Before blacking out, Luffy remembered placing Green Destiny in its sheath. Checking, he confirmed it was still there. The mist didn't seem to be thinning in the least, in fact the still boiling sea merely added more steam. Not having any energy to spare, Luffy pulled out a kunai knife from his belt.

Then something changed in the atmosphere, the pressure feeling more constrictive. Everything in Luffy said to move, so naturally he followed his instincts and jumped to the right just barely missing a green beam of energy that no doubt came from Hawkeye. And unlike him, Hawkeye was drained, not blind, and not unable to fight. Not getting any time to rest, multiple attacks from all directions came from the wall of mist with each being dodged a hair. Although there was a limit to how much luck one man can have.

The last attack nearly grazed Luffy's straw hat which had been firmly planted on his head throughout the whole ordeal. Of course not want for his treasure to be destroyed, he extended his neck more so the brim wouldn't be removed, even though it threw his stride out of sorts. This momentary lack of balance was capitalized on as Luffy felt a something sever his back, one of Hawkeye's cuts finally hitting home. Moving to the side quickly so as to not be cleaved in half Luffy was met with a even worse assault. Mihawk himself was standing right in front of him.

Reacting fast, the rubber man threw his kunai knife. Hawkeye was already moving though, moving his head to the left he avoided the knife and with sword already in hand he closed the distance between him and Luffy, impaling the boy with Yoru. Luffy was actually lifted from the ground a few centimeters. Blood began to leak from the corners of his mouth, life liquid oozed from the large wound in his torso. "You fought very well, Monkey D. Luffy." Then the blade was swiftly removed.

The Warlord then cut vertically in the air to his left, creating a large gap in the mist that reached the Going Merry. Looking at Luffy one more time, he jumped backwards, disappearing from view. Luffy, who didn't even know what force was keeping his up, began to see black blotches interrupt his vision and even though the sea was steaming, everything was becoming colder.

A strong gust of wind blew over the Merry, dispersing all the mist around the ship. Everyone blinked in surprise at the sudden clarity, but immediately started locating one another. Zoro saw that Nami was sitting cross-legged near the figure head with Usopp laying on her lap still unconscious. Sanji was on the upper deck leaning next to the railing. Johnny and Yosaku similarly were on the upper deck, Johnny missing his glasses and Yosaku with blood leaking from his head. Zoro himself was lying next to the mast, stiff from not moving and wounds healing.

Never the less, the man rose from his seated position, looking in the direction of the wind. "Oi, cook! Turn the ship over there and follow this path through the mist."

Sanji nodded, knowing what Zoro was thinking. He jumped over the upstairs railing, landing lightly on the lower deck, then quickly steering the rudder of the ship so that they began sailing through the gap in mist. If Luffy was anywhere, he was probably at the end of this opening. Otherwise why would it have appeared right in front of the ship? Sanji while steering the Merry noticed that Usopp got to lay his head on Nami's lap, he noted to not give him any food for three weeks.

Luffy knew not how long he had stood there, could have been days, but everything started to feel warm and fuzzy again. But mostly fuzzy, especially around the edges. He thought he heard voices but it was probably nothing, sounds slowly faded away. Then the pirate realized that he was dying. Bits of memory began flashing before him. Each one with its own meaning and purpose.

Memories of Ace, Sabo, Makino, Dadan and the mountain bandits, Garp, his new friends, and even the Doctor. The tunnel of memories then turned dark, leaving only a void tunnel with light at the end. Slowly he moved forward to oblivion.

 _Wait! I'm not ready yet! I...that's it!_

* * *

The Going Merry crew saw a rigid figure in the distance and assumed it to be Luffy. After calling out they received silence in response, worrying everyone on board. Sanji jumped from the ship and swam towards the man, confirming it was indeed their captain.

"Hey Luffy, thank god you're alright. We were get-"

The cook chocked on his words as soon as he was close enough to see the massive amount of blood coming out of Luffy's torso. Just as he was about to call for the others, Luffy fell backwards with a splash, giving the cook an even better view of his wounds. Sanji's eyes grew as big as oranges, gasping for air before yelling:

"Get Luffy on board now!"

A rope was thrown down to Sanji who after pulling Luffy close to his chest, allowed himself to be pulled upwards onto the deck. Sanji laid the captain on his back gingerly so as not to aggravate the wound even more. Nami upon seeing him screamed, tears almost immediately began pouring down her face. The scream was so loud that Usopp woke up with a start, only to be knocked over by Nami moving towards Luffy. Johnny and Yosaku already had bandages in hand, passing them to Nami and the cook. Luffy was disinfected and wrapped within one minute. Now the whole crew sat around him.

"Luffy! Come on! Please wake up!" This plea came from Usopp, who was bawling his eyes out. Zoro lowered his head to Luffy's chest for a few seconds, then after no heartbeat, Zoro moved in front of Luffy on both knees and began giving CPR by placing one hand over the other and pumping his chest.

"Oi Marimo, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Sanji was about to tackle Zoro before the response.

"Shut up! His heart isn't beating dumb ass!" This quieted the cook quickly. The swordsman kept pushing, trying desperately to bring Luffy back to the land of the living. By this point, everyone was in tears, praying to whatever God there might be to save their captain.

* * *

 **A/N:** How did I do with the fight? Oh yea, Jade Dragon Fang is not Luffy's only special technique. I was actually intending to show another one in this fight but decided against it. Next chapter we get a huge revelation. Hmm, I wounder how the World Government will react to the news they just received about a no name pirate fighting toe-to-toe with Hawkeye. They don't tend to take threats well.

 **Next Chapter:** Two Minutes in Limbo


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** CPR keeps blood flowing throughout a unconscious body, prolonging the time it takes for brain death to take place. After 4-6 minutes (can vary) without a heart beat, brain cells begin to die. 10 minutes without a heat beat is when these cells stop functioning all together. Just for those who might not have known.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

Two minutes. Two whole minutes before anyone spoke. Two whole minutes before anyone looked away from Luffy.

"He's breathing," sighed Zoro in relief, sitting back on his hunches. Everyone in turn breathed out a breath they didn't even know they were holding. No one spoke after though, there was only one thing on everyone's mine but it was going to be sensitive. At this point some of the mist had cleared but only enough to see what was happening on the ship. Also didn't help that afternoon had turned into night thirty minutes ago. It was Usopp that finally shattered the silence.

"Are we going to talk about those scars on Luffy?"

Nobody attempted to make eye contact. When they had removed the captain's clothes to patch up his wound, even in the dim (nearly nonexistent) light, the scarring was very visible. It must look horrendous in full day light. Yep, not one soul spoke up on the matter, leaving Usopp to drop the subject in it's entirely. Zoro had something to say though.

"I don't want anyone to mention this when Luffy wakes. What...whatever happened is probably something he doesn't want to talk about. If he did, he would have brought it up. I really don't want to hear **anyone** speak about it. Cook, I don't know if you know anything about this but do not let me hear a word spoken. Am I understood?" Zoro's tone left absolutely no discussion on the matter.

Nami was sitting in the circle with the crew, crying and inconsolable. So many emotions building up and pouring out, it would have been impossible to keep quiet. Maybe going into her room to cry would have been better, but Nami could not bring herself to move from the rubber man. Her strong defender was currently looking so fragile right now, almost weak. The feeling to reach out and touch was overwhelming, but at the moment one hand was over mouth and the other was wiping away tears.

Usopp was not as bad off as Nami but similarly was very upset. Luffy had become a very close friend to him at this point and seeing his dear buddy in such a state was saddening. Then those scars kept coming to mine as well. Whatever happened, no normal human could have gone through that and lived. Those burns were old but in a way that made it worst. Just thinking of a young kid going through that seemed evil on a basic level.

Sanji lit a cigarette and sat against the railing of the Merry, looking up at the layer of mist still blocking out the sky. He thought back to what little Luffy had said to him about those scars. Clearly it was a sensitive topic and he wasn't going to talk about it without permission from Luffy. Period. Unlike the others, the cook was not worried about Luffy's current health at the moment. He would pull through easily.

Sanji got up and began to walk towards the kitchen. "Luffy will be hungry when he wakes up," spoke the cook without turning around. His words had a double meaning. First was just to tell where he was going, but also it reassured everyone that Luffy would be alright and return to his normal self. Zoro of all people actually took that message to heart. Yes, the captain would be fine and everything would return to normal soon. Laying back on the deck, the first mate and swordsman dozed off.

* * *

 **Somewhere beyond the mist**

Hawkeye sat in his small coffin shaped boat, headed back to the Grand Line. The master swordsman couldn't help still thinking of the young rookies he had just met. The pirate hunter, who he hoped would one day take on the Greatest Swordsman title and Shank's bet on the new era. Although something was troubling him a little bit.

 _I hope that straw hat boy doesn't die. No, he's stronger than that._

Then another thought crossed the Warlords mine, although it wasn't as troubling.

 _I wonder what that Navy ship is telling HQ right now?_ A smile formed on Hawkeye, in fact the man almost laughed at what those fools must be doing right now. Probably losing their shit. He actually laughed a bit, then he laughed a lot. It was utterly hilarious.

* * *

 **Marine Branch #77**

The information coming in from Purinpurin was being transferred to Navy Branch #77 then directly to Navy HQ. All the while, the account being told was heavily analyzed and observed because of the complete outlandishness surrounding the story. First of all, people were running around like chickens trying to confirm whether or not Hawkeye had even been in the area. The back and fourth between Purinpurin, Branch #77, and Navy HQ was causing the Den Den Mushis to ring off the hook non-stop.

Ships were already being deployed toward the East Blue to check out the disturbance. Other Navy bases, actually all marine bases were being alerted that a major threat may be in the area and they should be on high alert. The situation was tense, but it wasn't entirely because of what had happened. Marines were trying to rack their brains together and figure out who might have done this. Wait no, that isn't right. Who _could_ have done this. Especially considering this perticular sea was considered the weakest.

Based on the information, the man fighting had been incredibly fast. Fast enough to dodge Hawkeye's attacks at least. Also amazing cutting power, able to break a slash preformed by Hawkeye. A nearly impossible feat. The ending of the fight, if it even had ended, was inconclusive. Apparently the battle of power had caused enough heat to boil the ocean and create a very thick sheet of mist. Currently Commodore Purinpurin was broadcasting this in complete darkness. Only one person that had evaded capture, even evaded identification came to mine. The Red Phantom.

The only description they had was bits and pieces from eye witnesses, which there were many. In fact it was amazing that with the literal hundreds of witnesses that spoke directly to him, an accurate face could not be pieced together. The many who were interviewed had said it was impossible to look the Red Phantom in the face because of a oppressive spirit weighing them down. The older members of the Navy took this as a clear sign of Kings Haki. A very developed form at that. Even the gender was shrouded in mystery because some said they heard a female voice speak, while others said it was a very deep masculine voice. Either it was a conspiracy or the Red Phantom had the ability to manipulate their voice.

The attributes continued to pile up as well. Some eye witnesses said he could run extremely fast, while others said he possess the ability to teleport. Because there was no known teleportation devil fruit, marines went with the former. This directly paralleled Commodore Purinpurin's statement that the one battling Hawkeye was impossible to follow with human eyes. Also he was able to dodge all of Hawkeye's attacks. A feat impossible for any current pirate in the East Blue. A feat impossible for anyone in the East Blue period. Once again the Commodore had to clarify there was no exaggeration in any of his statements.

After the Red Phantom had completely leveled the Goa Kingdom and killed a Celestial Dragon in cold blood, nobody knew what to do. What to expect. Then two days later nearly all of Marineford descended on the East Blue. Admrials, Vice-Admerials, Captains, Privates, everyone. But somehow the trail went completely cold. Everyone in Dawn Island was interviewed, including Dadan and the mountain bandits. Garp had personally searched Dawn Island and found nothing of interest, including Luffy who was gone completely. When asked, Dadan and Makino alike claimed Luffy had left four days ago, two days before the Goa Kingdom Massacre. That sounded sketchy as hell but there was no proof against it.

Apparently the entire Grey Terminal along with the poor residents of the Goa Kingdom had been evacuated one hour before the massacre began. This guy seemed to only have a grudge on the wealthy, going to individuals in person and telling them to leave before the fires started. This usually wouldn't rouse people to actually leave but after the Grey Terminal Fire, warnings didn't go unheeded. Especially not from a crazy man wearing a long black trench coat who couldn't be looked in the face without passing out. It was actually the people who saw him fleeing the scene that gave a almost decent description. However, because it was night time nobody could see that well.

Three eye witness saw him leap over the kingdom walls and begin sprinting into the Grey Terminal. Of them, all said that his outfit was completely red with blood yet left no footprints. One said that his hair was black like midnight, though in the dark it was not confirmed. He was then last officially spotted near the middle of the Grey Terminal where one women said that he jumped 10 meters in the air and disappeared. Like, into thin air disappeared. That was the last _official_ place he was seen. Though he was allegedly seen in over one thousand places.

The main reason for all of these reports was that the World Government tried to speed up the search by rewarding anyone 80 million berries who gave information that led to a arrest. The actual capture of the Red Phantom would result in a reward of 180 million berries. This bounty sent countless men to the seas, leading to the Great Bounty Era! _Come aboard and bring along all your hunting gear. Together we will find the bounties that we're looking for. We Are!_

The only problem was that once again, nobody knew what he looked like. So basically everyone in the East Blue claimed they saw him after the Goa Kingdom Massacre. This lead to some of the most outlandish stories the marines had ever heard. Here is a example of one of the more believable stories that came from Syrup Village:

 _"Yea, he just appeared out of nowhere. Right from the black sky and landed right over there in the middle of that rocky shore." The long nosed man pointed from the cliff he was on to the rocky shore below. The marine official was skeptical at best. This was the 589th story he heard this week._

 _"So what were you doing out so late sir?"_

 _"Well, I was doing my nightly patrol around the island to make sure any danger had not penetrated it's defenses."_

 _"Very admirable." Usopp visibly swelled with pride and even appeared to grow taller._

 _"Well they don't call me o'l sharpshooting, brave warrior, Captain Usopp, for nothing._

 _"Yes, very impressive. Did you get a good look at the guy?"_

 _"Um... yea, yea I think so. Guy was kinda shorter than you think right? Let's see, his clothes were completely red, like blood red. His hair was raven black. Um, lets see...his aura, oh the aura. It was like a demon that had come straight from Hell. It was actually kinda hard to look at him because of it."_

 _"I see," spoke the investigator, starting to get a little more convinced. No citizen had been told about the blood covering his clothing. "See anything else?"_

 _"Well, actually now that I think back, he had something long and green in his hand. It might have been a bl-"_

 _"Usopp! What do you think you're doing?"_

 _Some of the villagers had come out shouting curses and what not. "Don't believe a word he says! That kid is a lair through and through."_

 _"Oh I see. Thank you for telling me."_

 _"Wait! I'm not lying! I promise I recall-"_

 _"Stop your stories Usopp and leave. You could get locked up for lying during a official investigation." The townsfolk eventually succeeded in silencing Usopp before he could tell anymore "lies"._

 _This was the story about how Usopp saw the Red Phantom and missed out on 80 million berries. The marine investigator had put the story under inconclusive and gave the sniper 500 berries._

* * *

 **Luffy's Dream/Flashback**

* * *

Luffy walked through Foosha Village, enjoying the feeling of being back. The samurai's had just dropped him off a few minutes ago and to be honest, he had missed this place. Somehow he ended up at Makino's Bar, but that was fine. Luffy had planned to come here anyway. Not one second after walking into the establishment, he was tackled to the ground by the local bar keep.

"Luffy! Your home!" Makino buried her face in Luffy's chest as he lay on the floor. The rubber man hugged her back, happy that she had missed him so much. Poor girl probably thought he died in that gigantic storm three months ago. They stayed on the floor for like another minute before Luffy stood back up and helped up Makino, who had always been like a older sister to him. She walked back behind the bar and pulled a bottle of sake out from behind the counter. Luffy walked over and sat on one of the bar stools.

"I know you usually don't drink alcohol, but this is grounds for celebration," said Makino with a smile. He smiled as well and downed the liquid, letting a nice buzz form. It was impossible for Luffy to get drunk, so a buzz is all he would be getting. Makino leaned on the counter, "So, tell me everything. I'm really interested in the fact you're wearing a suit now instead of your usual apparel."

"Shishishi, it's a long story so I guess I better get started," laughed Luffy, getting right into it. As the story continued, other townsfolk came in and started to listen. As Luffy neared the end, basically the whole town had gathered around the bar, small kids were sitting on Luffy's and on the counter. By the last sentence, it had become afternoon and everyone was sad it ended.

"Well I really should be heading up to see Dadan and the other mountain bandits. Sorry everyone." Many within the bar moaned and groaned at the fact that the story was over, but did go back to their houses. A lot of the children started playing with sticks, speaking of the adventures they to would have one day. Luffy bid farewell to Makino and walked to the outskirts of town, eventually entering the forest. The afternoon light casting long shadows on the ground, creating a bit of a spooky atmosphere.

Through the shadows, Luffy saw enormous yellow eyes staring back at him. He quirked a smile as a massive tiger walked out the darkness and lowered it's head so that him and Luffy were eye level, a low growl emanated deep from the animals throat. Primal, but yet submissive. Luffy reached out and rubbed the tiger behind it's ears, getting a very loud purr from the animal and getting licked in return.

"Shishishi, missed me huh? Come on buddy, take me to Dadan." The tiger bent lower, allowing Luffy to climb aboard it's back. Then it took off deeper into the woods, trees flying by in a blur. The wind ruffled Luffy's hair and tugged at his hat strings. He closed his eyes and instead used observation to feel the surrounding area. Luffy knew these mountains like the back of his hand, so when he neared the old tree ASL house he knew.

"Wow, stop right here." Luffy stretch an arm out and grabbed on to a branch in the upper canopy, slowly retracting and pulling up to the tree house entrance. It was a bit on the small side now, but that was okay with Luffy who too deep in nostalgia at the moment to notice or care. Memories of Ace and Sabo ran rampant in his mine. He reached a had out and touched the wood softly, finger accumulating a fine layer of dust. But something was wrong.

Looking around, Luffy noticed a silver case at in the back of the room and everything went cold. For some reason, as he stared at this case, pure and unbridled terror attacked him at his core. It was almost like the case had a aura of it's own, this oppressive feeling was physically suffocating Luffy who found it very hard to get air. Falling backwards on his butt, the straw hatted teen scrambled away to the edge of the tree house.

After sticking his head between his knees, Luffy slowly calmed down his breathing to a normal rate. Then, after a unknown period of time, he crawled towards the case, sweat raining off in bullets. Night had fallen at this point, but the case was illuminated in a unearthly light. _Why I'm I so scared of a fucking case?!_

Getting close, Luffy saw that that their was a note laid on top of it. Quickly snatching off the piece of paper, he scrambled back again and began to read. Eyes widened at it's content:

 _Dear Luffy,_

 _It's good to see you're doing well, growing up big and strong just like your brothers. Like a caring father, I wish for you to be safe and sound in your adventures. Stronger and stronger opponents await you, true monsters. That is why I left you this gift. I'm sure you have noticed that your healing speed is much higher than a normal human beings. This is thanks to my special serum that was injected into you during week 2 of your treatment. Sadly before I could give you the next injection, you decided to leave. This next stage will increase your already enhanced healing 5 fold, above the point of an awakened Zoan._

 _Take care Luffy and if you ever need help just call._

 _With love,_

 _-Doctor M._

Luffy eternally screamed, eyes darting back to the case. What the hell was going on. The rubber man's eyes went bloodshot, he clamped his hands over his ears, attempting to block out the sound of the Docter's voice in his head. This was impossible, a joke. Yea a joke! But that didn't make any sense, only a few love ones knew where this tree house was and even less knew the name of the Doctor. Everything in Luffy's brain unraveled into a jumbled mess until it formed into one chant.

 _I killed him! I killed him! I killed him! I killed him?! I killed him?! I killed him?_

* * *

Luffy woke up with a gasp, startling everyone on deck. Nami was the first react, falling forward and tackling her captain to the floor before he could sit up. The navigator buried her head into his shoulder, murmuring how worried she had been. Nobody attempted to remove Nami, even though her weight might irritate his wound.

"Did miss anything?"

Zoro stood from his seated position. "No captain, we been sitting in this mist the whole time waiting for you to wake up." Luffy nodded and stood up as well, carrying Nami bride style. Usopp followed suit, wiping away a stray tear. The Straw Hat captain looked at the upper layer of mist, then to left. Luffy sighed in frustration.

"I can't locate the Baratie, not when I'm this drained anyway. Zoro steer the ship to the left, Usopp go tell Sanji that we may have to leave before saying goodbye to Zeff and the others. The marines will probably be here in a few hours. Lets move." The two crewmates went to work while Luffy walked below deck and into Nami's room, placing the orange haired in her bed. Still she was clinging to him though, not willing to let go. "Nami, sweetheart, you need to let go," said Luffy, stroking her hair a little. Wow, he was getting really good at this comforting rubberman mentally patted himself on the back.

Tears threatened to leak out of Nami again, "I thought I lost you."

"Baka, I won't die that easily," spoke Luffy with a smile. Remembering something he read in a book once, the raven lead down a kissed the troubled girl's forehead. "Get some sleep Nami, I'll call you when we get out of this mist or find the Baratie. Which ever comes first." Then the captain left the room.

If he had stayed, maybe Luffy would have heard Nami whisper into her pillow a soft, "I love you."

Leaving the room, Luffy walked into the floor above Nami's room, which was the storage area. It was now he noticed that his shirt and jacket was gone, his upper body currently only being covered by bandages. This could only mean everyone had seen the scars underneath. _Fuck it I guess._

After a few second of locating, he saw the bag he had used at the start of his trip, tucked in the corner. Reaching inside, he pulled the last content from inside; a small, silvery case. Opening it, there lay a single syringe filled with a multi colored liquid that looked quite thick. In fact it almost looked alive, glowing mostly red. The last time he had been injected with this stuff it felt like bees and fire ants invading his veins and nervous system. The pain had been worse then anything imaginable. But he would endure it again.

 _I must be stronger. For my friends._

With that thought in mine, Luffy jammed the needle in his arm and injected the liquid.

* * *

 **Somewhere in the New World**

* * *

"Wow, the marines are going crazy. Serpico, you have to listen to this."

The man who had just spoke was currently intercepting messages from the Navy, which was currently transmitting messages back and forth about what was happening in the East Blue. The one he addressed rolled his eyes and went back to reading in the newspaper despite the low light. They sat comfortably on plush top of the line couches, a large chandelier adorned the high ceiling. Hard to believe this was a ship used for bounty hunting. The younger of the two who read the newspaper sat on a love seat adjacent to the older one on the large couch listening to marine chatter. Serpico unconsciously touched the sheath to his sword laying beside him at the sound of someone walking down the large stone stairs.

"One of Kaido's men finally showed up," spoke the women who had just walked in. She wore a green hooded cloak that appeared to have been made of leaves with antlers on each side. A bow and arrow rested comfortably on her back, along with a full quiver of white feather arrows tipped with jagged heads that ripped flesh when pulled out. On her feet were soft soled moccasins. Standing only 5 foot 3 inches, she was rather short but it did nothing to diminish her hidden strength. Her eye color was a deep aquamarine, which appeared more animal than human.

"Oh, which one?"

"I think that idiot Jack."

"Oh, he isn't the negotiating type. Serpico you thick you can handle him?"

"I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem," spoke the dark haired man, "But I did the last transaction. Wouldn't want you to get soft would we?" The girl laughed a bit at the brothers bickering.

"Listen, Issac and Jason are currently up there saying god knows what. I would rather not have to take down another Kaido pirate this month," spoke the women again, getting a bit impatient.

"Fine, fine, I'll go if it will make you happy Nimrod." The venta black haired man rose and walked up the stairs, Nimrod and Serpico following behind. The long, spiraling, stone staircase broke off to other rooms and corridors, but the group only went straight up till reaching the deck. Two men were already there, both turning to see their captain. One having a large, black cloak on with a hood that covered his face from view and was holding his cherished sythe. The sythe seemed to glow with a spirit of it's own, murderous in intent. It's owner held it tightly with a shockingly pale hand. The other man had on a blue three piece suit, violet wavy hair, and a weapon being that appeared to be a enlarged tennis racket. Most likely because it was. Everyone seemed pretty chill considering Jack's fleet currently had them surrounded. The leader of this bounty hunting group spoke up.

"Jack the Drought! Have you come to negotiate the release of one of Kaido's commander? The bounty for him is 400 million, but I hate dealing with marines, so you can buy him back for 300 million. Sound good?" Jack visibly shook with rage.

 **"YOU DUMBASS! DO YOU HONESTLY THINK I'M GOING TO NEGOTIATE! YOU'RE SURROUNDED AND DEFENSELESS! NEW PLAN! I TAKE MY CREW MEMBER, THEN SINK YOUR LOUSY ASS, DELTA X!"**

Delta X sighed. "So that is a no then huh? Okay, this is called negotiations after all."

Black ooze began to drip off his right arm until it took shape in the form of a giant, jagged, curved black blade. Ooze also poured out the top of his head, spreading over his body until it covered him entirely. It quickly took shape, molding with him completely and taking on a look of pure black armor. To say it shined would be a lie. No, the color actually absorbed light, making it nearly impossible to tell where a person began. Delta X looked like a hole in space and time. His pale gray eyes were the only thing still visibly.

"Let the _negotiations_ begin."

* * *

 **A/N:** So the crew saw Luffy's scars apparently. Nami is in love. Hope she doesn't get jealous when Robin shows up ;). Na, women never get jealous. Sounds like the Marines are losing their shit for the 100th time. Ya'll learned more about the Red Phantom, so I hope you liked that. Who is this Delta X guy?

The Doctor is...alive?

So many questions. The East Blue will be wrapping up in the next...five chapters maybe? Still a lot of things that need to be done before the Grand Line. Lets say the next seven chapters tops.

Also, go re-read the first sentence in the letter. I know you probably missed the big part in there.

 **Self Promotion:** Go read my new story Darkest Day. It's about if Dawn Island was destroyed by a accidental Buster Call and Luffy grew up in the ruins of his home. Very dark by the way.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** Last chapter before Arlong. Also the only reason this chapter came out so early is because I'm on spring break at the moment and I don't have a social life. Good for you, sucks for me. Also based on the comments, everyone either likes the flashbacks or hates them. To the ones that hate them I want to apologize because there are two more full flashback chapters before the Grand Line.

 **pipi96:** Luffy sees Nami as a sister right now. Maybe she could change his mind but probably not. Luffy is knowledgeable on a lot of things, but sadly females are not one of them. Most of the books he read were about fighting techniques.

 **Devlin Dracul:** You're right about basically everything. But as for Delta X being friend or foe, only time will tell. And yes, the connection between Delta X, Doctor M, and Luffy runs deep.

 **Peanut Butter Rainbow:** Thank you for telling me.

 **Selet:** You're right about the bounty thing. It will be very high when the crew enters the Grand Line.

One more thing. I really hate Johnny and Yosaku, like with a passion. They are soooooo annoying to write dialogue for it isn't even funny. I wrote a whole chapter and was like "Shit I forgot those bounty hunters". Anyway, onward to the chapter.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

"The real question is what he will do next."

"He's a pirate. What do you think he'll do next?"

"I'm not sure. This one seems…different somehow," spoke a new voice hesitatingly.

One of the men slammed his fist against the marble table, cracking it in multiply places. Then, after taking a swig from his sake filled cup and lighting a new cigar, he began a rebuttal.

"It doesn't matter how **smart** or **different** the piece of scum is, pirates will still be pirates. It stands to reason that any pirate that is this strong will not, and _cannot_ stay in the East Blue for long. I guarantee the next stop for his crew will be Loguetown and then the Grand Line."

"Your reasoning is good White Chase Smoker, but you are missing the pattern here. This guy has systematically taken down every big name in the East Blue except for one. Personally, I think he is going to kill Arlong the Saw before departing this sea for good. Maybe this guy wants to strengthen intimidation by proving he is the strongest. That's my two cents anyway."

There was a pause before anyone spoke again. Then the Den Den Mushi that had stayed dormant this entire time crackled to life. A voice transmitted directly from headquarters spoke to the assembly.

"Let him. Let him kill Arlong and come to Loguetown. But know this, he cannot, **will not** make it to the Grand Line."

* * *

Luffy bit down hard into his forearm, trying not to call out in pain. This was worse than remembered, incredibly so. The blood pumping through his veins felt like tiny daggers instead of life liquid. His heart was beating so rapidly that the captain entered gear second without arm or leg pump. Sweat poured off in waves as his personal heat rose to levels well past the highest fever.

Luffy leaned on the wall and slid to the floor. He started ripping at his hair, pulling large clumps out with each pull. As the serum coursed through his body, the rubber man's skin increasingly felt the sensation of fire ants underneath his skin. Bees, ants, hornets, anything with pinchers was all underneath his skin. Luffy had at this point bitten through the skin of his forearm, drawing copious amounts of blood.

When he looked down, Luffy noticed that an entire pool of blood had been made around where he sat. There shouldn't be that much. Looking at his other arm, he finally saw that the "sweat" was really blood being pushed above the skin. Also Hawkeyes wound seemed to have open up again, blood soaking his pants and floorboards. Blood started to leak from the sides of Luffy's eyes, his vision turning red. Every opening leaked plasma and gore.

"Luffy! Luffy I think we found a way out the mist," yelled Zoro from above deck.

The straw hat tried to give a response but found his mouth and throat full of fluid. Instead a weird gurgle noise came out and caused Luffy to break into a violent coughing fit. The whole room began to get hazy and woozy. The walls ripped open and through those holes came locust, which began swarming all around. Clearly this was a hallucination conjured up by Luffy's blood deprived body, however that made it no less real for him though.

Whether it be the blood clogging his ears or the sound of pounding like five million drums, Luffy didn't hear or notice Zoro when he walked down stairs and into the storage area. The first mate nearly died at the state his captain was in. He stumbled backwards and tripped over a small create, falling to the floor hard. His eyes were still glued to Luffy however, nearly frozen in shock. I took three seconds before he found his voice again.

"Lu-Luffy?"

It was clear that he was still alive, just dying very quickly. Zoro found his nerve and ran over to Luffy, getting on his knees in front of him. He reached out for Luffy like one would a priceless vase.

"Captain?"

When a hand shot out and grabbed his own, the swordsman nearly shit himself. Luffy's grasp was firm and unyielding. In fact he was using so much force that he nearly broke his friend's wrist. Luffy then pulled him close so that they were only mere centimeters apart. Zoro had no choice but to look Luffy straight in the eyes.

"D-Don't…Tell…Anyone."

After these words were spoken, Luffy let go of his marimo haired friend and coughed violently into his arm. Zoro scrambled backwards, holding his bruised wrist. Although he wouldn't like it, that had been a direct order. Intent on obeying, Zoro left and went upstairs and didn't speak a word to anyone else. Sanji did raise an eyebrow when his crewmate washed blood off his wrist without even planning on giving an explanation.

"How is Lu-"

"He's fine."

Back in the storage room, Luffy was half way between awareness and oblivion. Blood had finally stopped leaking and pain had turned into a dull buzz. His body felt like it had been through a shredder, was boiled, and drowned. Moving wasn't even an option at the moment. But each second, added strength coursed through him once again. The serum had completely destroyed his body and now it was rebuilding it. After three minutes of sitting in his own body fluids, Luffy finally had enough power lift himself from the ground. Upon rising, he noticed that the wound in his torso was gone as well.

"I need a bath," spoke Luffy to himself. He walked through the bathroom door and started a bath. Shedding his pants and boots, the very tired man climb into the hot water and rested.

Meanwhile on the deck, Zoro was trying to navigate through this apparently eternal mist. In the same room, was a slightly troubled Sanji kept stirring a pot of beef soup that was sure to please all. The silence was tense to say the least and it was starting to get uncomfortable.

"Hey dart brow, I'm sorry that we might have to leave before you get to say goodbye. Captain's orders you know," spoke Zoro who continued to stare at the sea, hand still firmly on the rudder. Sanji was a little surprised at these words of condolences coming from Marimo, but didn't show it.

"It's fine. Luffy's logic is sound and I already resolved every conflict I needed to."

"I see."

Back to silence. Usopp climbed down from the mast and walked into the dining room.

"Hey guys, I think the mist is clearing up above us. Although it's kind of hard to tell because it's like 10 o'clock at night."

Zoro turned to his long nosed friend. "Thanks Usopp, it should thin out by the morning then." Usopp nodded and sat down at the table. It only took three minutes of silence for him to start up again.

"So that was some fight huh?" When nobody responded he kept going.

"I mean I could never in my wildest dreams think stuff like that was possible."

Sanji snorted, "That's saying a lot," he muttered; referring to Usopp's wild stories of grandeur. Once again, silence returned. Everyone had too much on the mine to have any sort of meaningful conversation anyway. Oddly it was the sniper himself that was thinking the most.

 _I've only know like 3 females ever and had only had one female friend, but I'm pretty sure Nami…thinks of Luffy as her best friend. Yea, that most likely explains her odd behavior. But what is with all those scars on Luffy's body. That isn't normal, but then again my captain isn't a normal guy. He can be…twisted sometimes. His strength is completely out of most people's league. Ever since he started training me, I've gotten stronger too. His way of training is Hell though._

Johnny and Yosaku walked into the room now, sitting down on the opposite side of Usopp at the table. Not even noticing the tense atmosphere they started loudly chatting away.

"So does anyone know where we are headed next?" This was Johnny who asked, wearing sunglasses inside like a douche bag.

Usopp responded, "Were going to the Conomi Islands. More specifically Cocoyashi Village."

Johnny fell over and Yosaku's eyes popped out his skull. "What," the two screamed in unison. Johnny stood back up and grabbed Usopp by the collar.

"Are you kidding me?! We cannot go there!" Usopp put a hand on the bounty hunters face and pushed him to the ground. Sanji and Zoro turned around, forgetting their activities for a moment.

"Why the hell not," screamed Usopp back, more pissed than worried.

Instead of answering that question, Johnny reached into his jacket and pulled out a stack of wanted papers. He let all but one fall to the floor in a heap. The one he had was of a clearly inhuman, blue –skinned creature with a nose like a saw.

"This is the reason! Arlong! The fishman that rules over this sea lives on the Conomi Islands!"

All but one of the Straw Hats present gave a confused look. Zoro turned away, remembering something Nami asked him at Syrup Village.

" _Zoro, you use to be a bounty hunter right?"_

" _I never called myself a bounty hunter. All I did was collect bounties so I could eat and have shelter."_

" _Okay, ok. But did you ever consider going after Arlong's bounty?"_

 _Zoro raised an eyebrow as he sipped his booze. "Of course not, I only needed enough to eat off, no reason to go for some big bounty when there were other easier and closer bounties."_

" _Good point…"_

"So does that mean…" muttered Zoro to himself. No one heard his musing over Johnny's screaming. Speaking of, the irritating yelling was abruptly silenced when an extremely terrifying aura walked into the room.

"You know it's rude to yell when someone is sleeping."

Everyone turned around in fear to see Luffy at the door with his hat covering his eyes. What the hell? His aura was fucking red with rage. Luffy got mad sure, but this was unusually mad for just yelling.

"Now explain to me why we can't go to Nami's hometown."

Johnny shook his head in despair. "Don't you get it? Arlong lives there! An evil fishman that, after besting the Grand Line, came here to take over. He was turned loose by Jimble, a Warlord like Hawkeye! That's why we cannot go!"

Luffy didn't even acknowledge that. His captain's jacket ruffled despite there being no breeze. "Let me give you some context. Nami is currently trying to buy back her village from Arlong by being a thief. He asked for 100,000,000 berries, a pretty fucking big sum for an 8 year old. Not to mention this was after he killed her mother. The reason we are going is to beat the living daylight out of him."

Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp felt anger flare up. Yes, even Zoro. For such a thing to be done to a little girl, it was unforgivable. They hadn't even heard the half it though because Nami had not told Luffy about being a map making slave. Didn't matter, the Straw Hat crew was already ready to fight.

"Listen Big Bro, I know you're really strong, but this guy was on par with a Warlord. You saw what happened when you went up against one of them. Our best bet is-"

The bounty hunter was cut off because of a backhanded fist connecting with his face. The impact alone sent a shockwave through the whole room and crushed Johnny's entire face. But it didn't stop there. Luffy's back hand launched Johnny out the open door at careening speeds, right into the mast. His back hit first, making a loud snap, crackle, pop, and blood exploded out his mouth. Then after all the forward momentum was exhausted, he fell face first on the deck. Luffy hadn't even put a fraction of his power in that punch.

Before any could even think, the Captain spoke up again. "I swear to God I will fight anyone who goes help him." Yosaku sat back down. Then Luffy flipped the script completely. "Sanji, that soup smells delicious. Let's eat! And Nami is sleeping so try to keep it down."

Sanji started pouring bowls, barely effected by any of this. He was about to kick that guy to for his complete disregard for Nami and her islands struggle. Plus he disrespected the captain, a thing that shouldn't be allowed on any ship.

Zoro also knew perfectly well why Johnny had been punched, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

Usopp wasn't even thinking of Johnny anymore because of very familiar feeling. _I've felt that aura before._

Yosaku was having an internal battle at the moment. He should help his friend right? That was the thing one friend should do for another right? But then again, fighting Luffy seemed like a really bad idea. How would he be able to help Johnny is they were both grasping for life. _I'll wait for Luffy to eat and drink, then ask to help Johnny. He'll be more likely to say yes then._

"Ok guys, you can go to bed after you're done eating. I'm sure the mist will clear by then." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I'll take watch," said Sanji. Everyone looked at him funny until they realized he hadn't been on this ship for a night yet. Usopp decided to enlighten him.

"Luffy does watch every night. He said because of his Observation Haki, he was the best one for the job." What the sniper said was true, but it hid the real reason Usopp didn't want anyone else doing watch. It would almost for sure ruin his and Luffy's midnight training sessions, which had started to depend on.

Sanji fired back, a little upset at the knowledge that they had let Luffy go months without sleeping. Although the captain didn't like sleep so there was that, but still. "Well from what Zoro told me, your Haki is currently shot to hell from that fight. This is a perfect time for Luffy to finally slumber for the night."

Luffy scowled at his friend, knowing exactly what was going on. The cook had constantly insisted that Luffy get more sleep and now that he was on the Going Merry, Sanji would do his best to enforce it. "My Haki is actually half way restored already. I think it would be best for me to do it." That had been a lie. The rubber man was tired to an extreme degree at the moment, what with the fight then the serum. But then again, that serum was currently working some sort of magic because energy was being restore at an incredible rate.

This wasn't a time to argue, after all they should be asleep right now. "Ok, fine," said Sanji, walking out the room and towards the hatch that led to the men bedroom. On the way he walked past Johnny without so much as glancing his direction. Zoro and Usopp decided it was time to hit the hay and followed Sanji. Luffy shook his head and sat down at the table.

"Go help your friend Yosaku."

The bounty hunter, who had been sitting very anxiously, spirited out to the deck and began treating his friend. Within the next 20 minutes, everyone was asleep.

* * *

As midnight rolled around, Usopp walked onto the deck just like every night. The air had chilled a little, the sea had stopped bubbling about an hour ago. The sniper had slingshot in hand and a pouch full of projectile pellets. He stopped his walk when Luffy jumped down from the lookout post.

"We really don't have to train tonight if you're tired," spoke Usopp, voice full of concern. His captain's eyes were bloodshot to an extreme degree, it was at the point they were almost glowing. Of course Usopp had no way of knowing that this was a reaction to the Doctor's serum.

"I'll be fine. Did you make the new star I wanted you to?"

The sniper nodded and reached into his pack, pulling out a slightly larger than average pellet. "Thanks for the idea of making a shrapnel pellet. Easy to aim with a large spread."

Luffy nodded. "Did you use metal for the projectiles?"

"Yea, I broke down some used cans from the kitchen."

"Good. Put any thought into a new slingshot with more draw weight?"

"I've been drawing up some ideas, but nothing final. Probably will not be finished until we reach the Grand Line."

"That's really good progress. So do you think you're up for some Observation Haki training? Or do you want to work on some more hand to hand combat techniques?" Damn, Usopp was still sore from the last Observation Haki training session. The large bruise on his back punctuated that point. And last time they did hand to hand combat, Luffy accidently grazed him with a punch that sent him flying into the railing. Hard.

"Um, maybe some more strength training?" Yes, the sniper never thought that he would be choosing to lift weights and do countless crunches over anything, but here he was.

"Okay then, let's start." Luffy walked over two a three hundred pound dumbbell, picked it up like a child would a balloon, and tossed it to Usopp, much to the Straw Hat crew members destress.

"Wait, wait, wait-" Too late. The dumbbell crashed into Usopp, sending him off his feet and causing him to nearly fold in on himself. The poor man laid in a heap on the floor, struggling to stay conscious. Luffy scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Whoops! Sorry Usopp. I forgot your lifting max is only 285 pounds. Shishishi, you forgive me?"

It was going to be a long night of training.

Around two in the morning was when Usopp called it a night. Sore and aching as if he had gotten into a fight with life and lost. Somehow his captain had coxed him into more hand to hand combat training with the promise of a new technique. Luffy had also promised to teach him some ninja art if he ever landed a punch. Fat chance of that. It wasn't all bad though. The sniper now knew every, or close to every pressure point and how to attack those points.

Luffy had also taught him a few martial arts moves, but not that many. His Observation was going nowhere quick. He had dodged one of Luffy's strikes with the blindfold on, but it must have been a fluke because that action was never repeated. The newest thing that happened just this night was that Luffy gave him a Karambit knife for quick strikes to weak points. Usopp didn't think he would need it but that wouldn't stop his captain from teaching it.

With only enough strength to get in his hammock, Usopp fell asleep the moment he laid his head down.

When morning came, everyone woke up with energy renewed fully. Zoro still felt a little stiff around the torso region, but some good training would fix that real quick. Sanji had awakened an hour earlier to start breakfast. Nami woke up some time after Zoro to check the position of the ship, now that mist had cleared almost entirely. Johnny and Yosaku slept in pretty late but were not far off from Nami. Usopp was last to rise like always, sleeping for maybe two hours after everyone else.

So when the sniper walked in the kitchen breakfast had already started. Everyone was having idle chitchat about their next stop after Cocoyashi Village over a meal. When Zoro had asked Nami how strong Arlong was, things got a little silent. Nami knew that her crew would eventually find out about Arlong from Luffy, but didn't make it any easier. Once she began relaying the story, tears threated to come loose.

"Arlong…is a true monster. He once got so angry at one village that couldn't pay him that he completely turned the place inside out. Anyone that challenged him hasn't lasted more than five blows before dying. Once a pirate crew was docking on one of the outer isles of Arlong's territory without permission. The captain had a bounty of 8 million and thought he was greatest thing walking on Earth, so when Arlong asked for payment in return for staying on the island, he refused. The man was dead within two blows. The crew was ripped to shreds in an instant."

Everyone was silent. She continued.

"Arlong has no pity for anything except for other fishmen. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact I'm good at drawing maps, I would probably be dead to. Every day and night I was forced to draw until my hands bleed because if not he would kill everyone in my village. I was very important to his future "empire" so he rarely let anything happen to me. But sometimes if I wasn't working hard enough, I would get tossed around a bit for good measure. A-a-and once…some of the fishmen had been drinking a bit too much a-and n-noticed h-h-how much my b-body had matured…"

"…"

Silent wasn't even right. It was as if the Going Merry entered a vacuum were sound couldn't be transferred. So this only served to make Nami's sobbing even louder. Sanji had broken the wooden spoon in his hand, his eyes full of fire. Zoro's eyes were shadowed from view and his hand clutched Wando until his knuckles were white. Usopp's gaze of anger was aimed at the floor and the bounty hunting pair similarly looked down. Luffy…was completely engulfed in a demon aura. Even Luffy's sword, which was sheathed in the corner, was glowing a dull emerald.

"…Nami," spoke Luffy, trying amazingly hard to keep his voice even because his whole body was shaking in anger. "How close is A-Arlong P-Park?"

The young girl sniffed a bit and wiped her tears away. "About three hours from our current position." Luffy looked at Sanji, still quaking.

"You cool with skipping goodbyes with old man Zeff?"

"Definitely. I'll make sure to wave on my wanted poster."

"Good. Zoro, get on the rudder. Usopp, open the sail to full mast. Sanji, raise anchor. Nami, direct Zoro. Full speed to Arlong Park!" Everyone jumped up and ran to their stations. Luffy rose slowly and walked onto the deck, looking directly at the sun filled sky. Arlong was going to be dead within the day.

* * *

 **A/N:** Luffy sounds kind of pissed. Yes, Usopp is already much stronger then he was in canon. You'll see when they fight the fishmen. That serum sure did rip Luffy a new one.

Next up is the Arlong Arc. It will only last two chapters by the way.

Also, I'm half and half on Vivi joining the crew. Tell me what you think in the comments.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** Hope you enjoy. Also if you're wondering why I stop writing dialogue for Johnny and Yosaku half way through this chapter, it's because it was a pain and I hated it. Sorry I guess, but I make up for it by destroying Arlong.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

The Going Merry was quickly approaching Arlong. It couldn't get there fast enough for Luffy's taste however. In fact, this went for everyone on the ship, save for maybe Johnny and Yosaku. They were so pumped at the moment that Luffy, Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji had started warming up already.

"Good speed Zoro!"

Luffy jumped backwards to avoid the strong right handed swipe, then ducked a kick aimed for his neck. Zoro did a forward jab with Wando directed to his captain's temple, which Luffy deflected with the kunai knife in his mouth. Currently the Straw Hat captain was blindfolded, restricted from using gear second or six powers, and had both arms tied behind his back. This was all the more frustrating to Sanji and Zoro, who hadn't been able to wound him yet.

They were playing teams at the moment with Sanji and Zoro on team 1 and Usopp and Luffy on team 2. Sanji went in for Party Table Kick Course but was greeted to an explosive star to the face, causing him to lose balance and kick Zoro in the head. The swordsman was sent flying into the railing.

"Idiot, second rate cook," muttered Zoro as he picked himself up. If he had three swords, this fight would be going a different direction. Sanji, who was pretty pissed, stood up and ran at Usopp, ready to kick the sniper with a full powered move. Halfway there however, Luffy stuck a foot out and tripped the cook, causing him to stumble the rest of the way. Being so off balance left him extremely open and Usopp was able to punch the chief in the face with enough force to send him flying back and landing on his butt.

"Don't let anger cloud your sight on the battlefield Sanji. Tunnel vison equals death for you and your comrades." Sanji looked the other way and rubbed his cheek a bit.

"Will do captain."

Luffy then looked up at Nami, who was in the crow's nest. It was still morning, as the sky had not even reached its peak in the sky. "We close yet?"

"I can see the island, but it is still about an hour off."

"Thanks Nami." Luffy then turned back to his crew, still blindfolded and bound. "Ok, let's continue."

* * *

The Going Merry docked at the port closest to Cocoyashi Village, and the crew had started to unload. Luffy, like everyone else, was so ready to turn Arlong into paste he could scream. Sadly, Nami insisted that she check on her village. As they walked towards the village, Nami explains that the inhabitants of the town hates her guts. This shocks a few crew members but really didn't change anything.

"I just have to check on a few things is all."

Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy shrugged, jostling the bags of treasure on their shoulders. "Do whatever you need to do," says Luffy, taking in the surroundings. Nice place. Who would think that it was being ruled by an evil fishman?

As they walk into the town, they begin to draw quite the large amount of attention. Usually the town folk would avoid Nami like the plague, but for her to bring others to the island was unheard of. Something had to be up. Whispers and mutterings started to go up among the crowd. The men with Nami had a certain air around them, unrestrained power and anger. Especially the one with the straw hat. As calm as Luffy thought he was being, his aura was going crazy right now.

They continued the walk until they made it to a house on top of a steep hill. There was a tangerine orchard beside said house as well. The sun was now at full height in the sky, beating down on them with full intensity. Nami opened the door to her house, letting Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Johnny, and Yosaku in. Pretty simple house, but it felt cozy.

"Ok, just set the bags over there," said the thief, pointing to the corner of the kitchen. Her crew mates complied. Luffy stretched his arms and yawned.

"Can we please go murder Arlong now," said the captain, eyes turning a dark shade of red, spooking some in the room. Had that always happened? Before any reply could be made, an outside party spoke up.

"So that's what all this is about."

Everyone turned around to see a young women with light ice blue hair. She was wearing a plaid, green, sleeveless, button up shirt, which allowed her interact tattoo to be seen. She also had on plain blue jeans and heeled sandals a lot like Nami's.

"Honestly Nami, I never thought you would intentionally bring someone to their death." Nami turned around in surprise.

"Nojiko! What are you doing here?"

"I live here."

"Right."

Then silence. Luffy decided to break the tension. "Um, so you know Nami?"

Weak attempt sure but it something. Nojiko shook her head and walked past the group, sitting down in one of the chairs around the table.

"I don't know what my sister told you, but you should leave before Arlong realizes you're here. I don't care how strong you think you are, no one beats Arlong. A fishman is 10 times stronger than a normal human, and Arlong is 10 times stronger than a normal fishman. He cannot be beaten." Luffy nodded, Zoro yawned, Sanji lit up a cigarette, and Usopp double checked his stars. Johnny and Yosaku were the only ones to look even a little nervous.

"Cool story," sighed Luffy, bored as fuck. So much blood lust and yet he was being forced to wait. Nojiko just looked away in pity. It was Nami's turn to speak up.

"Listen Nojiko, these guys aren't normal. I'm barely sure they are human. Arlong doesn't come close to them," she said, pointing at Luffy, "He might as be some sort of god."

Nojiko couldn't believe what she was hearing. Had Nami finally lost it or something? No one could hope to win against Arlong. Although, Nami was a smart girl and would act rash, especially on something like this. There might be some merit to those outlandish statements.

Luffy then abruptly ran out the door, not even bothering to say anything. He had sensed something that was off and nothing was going to stop him from keeping the ones in this village safe. Not that the Straw Hat actually cared for them personally or anything, just it would keep Nami happy. Moving swiftly with soru, Luffy made it back into town just in time to watch the situation unfold.

"You know the penalty for having a weapon," sneered a fishman, wearing an unbuttoned flora shirt and jean shorts. There were three other similarly dressed fishmen behind this one, each with the same superior smirk. The one being interrogated was a tanned, average built man. His more noticeable features was a bushy mustache, hat with a pinwheel, and multiple stiches. He wore a brown police outfit with matching brown pants.

"I collect them as a hobby. I have no intention of starting an uprising or any nonsense like that."

The fishmen look at each other and laughed. "You're still breaking the law old fool and the penalty is-"

Luffy walked up, eyes being blocked from view by his hat. The fishmen interrogating Genzo turned around and nearly shit themselves. Something deep inside of their heart was shaking. A primal feeling of hunter and hunted was activated. And they were the hunted. The straw hatted…thing was not human. They fell over in fear and could not find their footing no matter what.

"What's wrong," asked Luffy in a soft voice. No response was given. The fishmen had effectively bitten their own tongue.

"Hey, could you guys do me a favor?" The fishmen's eyes widened as Luffy bent down and gave a twisted smile. Genzo was in a similar state of shock, however it was not because of the pirate captain's will power. It was the fact that there was a human being alive that could scare fishmen. The townsfolk who had been gathered around Genzo were also in disbelief. It was at this moment that the Straw Hat crew caught up with Luffy.

"Luffy why did you…" Usopp stopped talking when he saw the scene. Everyone else followed suit. Nojiko's normally indifferent appearance was now in a state of shock.

Luffy slowly reach into his holster and pulled out his blunderbuss, pointing it right between the first fishman's eyes. Despite the urge to move, the fishmen were glued to the ground. A cold blast of air went through the town, giving everyone goose bumps. What should have been a sunny day now had dark clouds evading the sky from all directions.

"Could you tell Arlong that I'm coming?" The fishmen nodded vigorously.

"Good."

And like that they could move again. The very next nanosecond after realizing this, the fishmen disappeared, running as if Satan was behind them. Luffy smirked and turned to his crew.

"Arlong dies **now**."

Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp nodded and began walking towards Arlong Park with Luffy. But then the captain stopped for a moment.

"I do not want anyone to come near Arlong Park. What I'm about to do shouldn't be seen by anyone. That being said, Nami, come on." The thief left the side of her sister and started following behind her male crewmates. That was until a hand grabbed her arm.

"Nami, what do you think you're doing? Who are these men," asked Genzo, a slight edge in his voice.

"Genzo, these are my crewmates." Nami then motioned her hand towards Luffy, Sanji, Usopp, and Zoro, who were now once again stationary and very impatient. "As for what I'm doing, freeing this village of Arlong forever." Genzo looked shocked for a moment but regained his senses quickly.

"Did you finally raise the 100,000,000 berries?!" It was Nami's turn to be shocked now.

"G-Genzo! You knew this whole time?" The policeman looked away in shame, as did most of the townsfolk. Luffy was now sitting in the middle of the road, looking a bit lost. When was he going to get to rip Arlong apart?

"In case you ever wanted to escape, we didn't want you to feel chained down to this town." Nami started to cry a bit as emotion swelled. It was at this point new voice entered the fray.

"How touching. However, I'm afraid I must be breaking up the moment." The one speaking was a very odd looking man with grayish skin. He wore a hooded marine trench coat, the hood having mouse ears attached on. Blue pants and black boots finished off the look, except for the odd whiskers hanging off his face. Luffy had sensed the man coming, but had thought nothing of it because of how weak the aura was. Behind Nezumi were 30 other marines with rifles.

"I am looking for Nami."

* * *

Meanwhile, Arlong sat on his makeshift throne, laughing it up with his fishman brothers. The joke that had them all in pieces was the treatment of Nami. Got to love loop holes.

"Hey Boss, isn't Nami going to be pissed?" The mighty fishman bellowed out a flamboyant laugh at this statement. It was truly funny.

"So what?! I'll simply threaten that pathetic village of hers. Shahahahaha!"

The laughter stopped abruptly when three fishmen jumped over the wall and fell at Arlong's feet. They gasped for air and attempted to sputter out something intelligible. When that failed, they tried pointing. This greatly disturbed Arlong and his fellow brothers.

"A-A-Arl-Arlo! C-C-Cra-Cra person! C-Coming!"

Arlong and the others had managed to piece together that something was coming. Wait, something _scary_ was coming. It was too late to ask what _it_ was because the fishmen had passed out. Damn, what could have done this? Couldn't be human right? Arlong didn't want to take any chances.

"Everyone, gather your weapons! Be ready for anything!" Kuroobi, who was standing at Arlong's right side, leaned in to talk.

"Is this necessary? I would be glad to go exterminate this problem, whatever it may be." Arlong shook his head in the negative. Something was odd about all this.

* * *

"So, explain to me again what you're here for?"

All thirty marines were either dead, or almost dead. A few had been hit into trees and on top of houses. The ones that Zoro got a hold of were sliced up to like tomatoes. The only one still conscious was Nezumi, though he probably wished he wasn't. Both arms, his nose, and part of his right knee cap was broken or shattered. The pain was more than imaginable.

"I-I-I waaas s-senn-t-t-by Ar…long! I-I-I'm hhheere to t-tak-e her t-treasure!" As he finished, tears began to pour from his eyes, blood was also coughed up, adding to the already large puddle on the ground. Luffy stood up from his crouched position and turned to the townsfolk.

"You heard that right. Arlong was never going to keep his end of the deal with Nami. The only way to free this village now is to fight." The townsfolk gave a battle cry that was quickly silenced by Luffy.

"No, not you guys. My crew and I. We're the ones who are going to fight. You guys can just stay here and wait for an hour or something. I would rather no one be there when I fight."

Genzo walked up to the Straw Hat captain and gave a hard stare. "You think I'm going to miss the fall of Arlong Park. After everything he did?" Luffy and Genzo stared at each other for a few more seconds before Luffy finally looked away. The man was right. They had be tortured and tormented by Arlong like Nami. These people deserved a chance to see Arlong's dead corpse.

"Okay, but no children by any means."

"Deal."

Then wordlessly, Luffy started to walk towards Arlong Park with his crew following closely. Nami hung back a bit and walked with her village a few steps behind. As they drew closer, it started to drizzle a little. Nojiko walked next to Nami and leaned in to whisper.

"Where on Earth did you find these guys?"

"They more or less found me," she whispered back.

The walk continued until they were right outside the walls of Arlong Park. Luffy lifted his leg and kicked the large stone doors with so much force that the doors exploded in a shower of dust. Arlong turned around just in time for a fist to the face, flinging him off the throne and on the ground. The fight had not even started yet and he was already on the verge of unconsciousness. The rubber man retracted his fist, shocking most in the crowd.

"Nami, is there anyone you don't want dead," asked Luffy, hat shading his eyes.

"The octopus."

"Okay. Everyone else hear that?"

"Yes."

"Mhm."

"Understood."

"Good. I'll join the battle in a few minutes. I want to see how much your training paid off for now."

"Right," the three crew members said in union. Then they ran into the fray. Zoro immediately began cutting down enemies left and right. The fishmen holding swords were absolutely powerless to stop his assault. Three swordsman fishmen tried to attack at once with a downward strike, but were all stopped on Wando blade with ease. Before realization could even take place, a sword went through all their throats with one slash. Even with one sword Zoro was unmatched.

Sanji was similarly having great success in his fighting. The cook was barely even touching the ground as he kicked off the throats of the fishmen, each blow collapsing the windpipe. One fishman ran at him with a sword drawn and tried a horizontal slash to the chest. Sanji jumped high into the air over the attack and summersaulted, then descended with a drop kick to the fishman's head, exploding it on impact. It didn't matter who challenged him, Sanji would send them to a quick death promptly.

Usopp was surprisingly fairing good as well. Most didn't even get near him because of the deadly fire being rained down. The sniper was putting good use to his new shrapnel stars, aiming only for the eyes, mouth, and nose of his opponents. And being the pro he was, Usopp was shooting so that the stars were fired in the fishmen's blind spot, making it impossible to dodge. However, some were able to get in close and throw a few punches at him, though they were easily avoided. Compared to Luffy's punches they might as well be in slow motion. At the end of the last punch combo, Usopp threw his slingshot upward, pulled two explosive stars from the dual pouches on each side, leaned closer, and jammed an explosive star deep into each ear canal before jumping backwards.

Fire erupted from the fishman's ears along with blood and brain matter. His eyes also popped out of socket, but still attached. He fell face forward on the ground, life force gone. Usopp raised his right hand in the air without looking and caught his slingshot as if fell downward. Inside, the sniper was actually quaking with terror, but outside he wore a hardened fake grin. _Be brave, be brave. No running, no accidents. Just like Luffy taught._ If you looked closely, although no one was, you could see Usopp's knees shaking in fear. Old habits die hard, but one thing was different. There would be no running.

Luffy was currently standing next to Nami watching the show and making sure Arlong wouldn't cause any trouble for his crew. He was going join soon though because he now knew what to work on with his crew in terms of more training. Plus if the captain stayed still any longer, he would probably lose his fucking mind.

As Nami stood next to Luffy, she felt tears coming swelling up for the tenth time this week. Jeez, what was with her and emotion right now? She desperately wanted to help in the fight, but the girl was smart enough to know it would only be a burden to her friends. However, she vowed to get stronger, maybe even ask Luffy to train her. Speaking of which, it looked like he had decided to join in now because Luffy was doing a power march into Arlong Park. It was also at the time that Arlong's three top members joined in.

Zoro had basically taken out everyone around him by the time Hatchan came around with a sword in each tentacle. The octopus looked pissed and had a right to be so.

"You killed my brothers you bastard, time to die!"

"If I didn't kill them they would have killed me," stated Zoro nonchalantly. He was under orders not to kill this joker, but that wouldn't make this fight any harder. Even with one sword it would be a simple matter.

"Well…I guess that is true."

Was this guy an idiot? Whatever, only made the swordsman's job that much easier.

"Right I guess. Anyway let's get this over with," huffed Zoro, gripping Wando tight with his right hand. The Arlong Pirate looked extremely confused however.

"But you only have one sword and I have six. You can't beat me with only one sword."

"Idiot. You may have more swords, but mine carries more weight."

"…But that's impossible. I know it may look like these swords are light, but each one actually weighs 300 pounds. Yep, my sword must have more weight."

"Forget it, I'm done with this shit," muttered Zoro, tying his haramaki around his forehead, preparing to fight seriously. Hatchan also took a serious fighting stance.

"I'm fighting with intention to kill so be prepared." Then with that, Hatchan rushed forward swinging all six swords in what looked like a completely random fashion. However, looking closer Zoro could tell that a pattern did exist in the chaos and pattern meant this would be easy. As the two clashed sword against sword, the octopus was shocked that Zoro was dead yet.

Trying to distract Zoro, Hatchan only attacked with three swords while keeping the others still. Zoro kept parrying each of three swords with ease, making sure to keep a close eye on the other ones as well. So when Hatchan tried to take the green haired swordsman off guard, it failed terribly. As the other three swords joined in, there was a one second delay from his other three that had been currently attacking. This one second delay gave Zoro the time to move forward at incredible speeds and cut Hatchan deeply with a diagonal slash to the torso. This attack stunned the octopus long enough for Zoro to shuffle left and jump so as to do a downward cut, slicing the hand on each right handed tentacle, forcing Hatchan to drop three of his swords. The Arlong pirate fell on his knees and quivered in pain.

"Y-you…bastard," muttered Hatchan weakly before falling face down on the pavement. Well that wasn't too hard. Zoro placed Wando back in his sheath and walked off to see if any of his friends needed help.

While Zoro had been "fighting" (raping) Hatchan, Sanji too was having a completely one-sided fight with another Arlong Pirate top member. After striking down his possibly 25th fishman, he felt an attack come from behind but had no time dodge, so instead the cook jumped forward with the rather strong punch; flying forward at an amazing velocity. Kuroobi grinned as if he had won the fight already.

"One down," muttered the fishman like he was hot shit. As if he could take out Luffy's whole group. Didn't matter really, he would be dead in the next 20 seconds.

Sanji pulled his knees to his chest in midair and flipped so that instead of heading head first into the Arlong Park wall, he was going feet first. Still flying extremely fast, when Sanji's feet touched the surface of the stone wall, he immediately crouched so as to absorb the impact and spread out the force to the wall. The stone surface cracked along the entire length of the wall, taking more force than it could handle.

After taking a quick split-second to regain his composure, Sanji tensed his legs and while still vertical on the wall, lit up a cigarette like a badass. Then after taking a long drag and letting out a satisfied smoke filled breath, Sanji vaulted off the wall nearly three times faster than when he was hit. The entire wall vaporized under the immense pressure put upon it, only dust was left. Kuroobi didn't even have time to blink, much less try to defend himself. Not that he could have.

"Mutton Shot!" Sanji closed the distance between him and the fishman and in less than an instant angled his body upward, stretched his leg out, and kicked Kuroobi just under his chin. The impact was so great that the force broke the sound barrier and launched Kuroobi's head into the next atmospheric layer. Blood erupted out from where a head use to be. The large shark body slumped and fell forward with a wet smack. Sanji landed on the ground casually and took another drag from his cigarette.

"Better go see how Usopp and Zoro are doing."

Speaking of, Usopp, just like everyone else, had to fight an Arlong Park head member. The sniper had taken out every fishman in his area of the park except one. Chew attempted to shoot Usopp from behind but he was able to roll out of harm's way in time. Mid-roll, Usopp pulled out two shrapnel stars and one tobacco star with his left hand, right hand already holding his slingshot.

As soon as he was upright, the sniper put all three stars in his sling and fired quickly. It was such a practiced and fluid moment that Chew didn't even attempt to lift a hand or dodge because he hadn't registered an incoming attack. So when the burning and searing pain exploded in his eyes and through his brain, it was a complete surprise. On instinct, Chow began to rub furiously, falling right into Usopp's trap.

 _The shrapnel only goes two centimeters deep, but with the tobacco star the victim will naturally rub their eyes, making the shrapnel go even deeper._ The fishman continued to rub his eyes until he stopped and started screaming. Blood coated his hands and eyes, literal tears of blood were being squeezed out in agony.

" **Aaaaaggg!** "

Chew could no longer hear, see, smell, or taste anything. He could only feel the striking pain ripping through his head. It was complete misery. His eyes had a look of crazed terror as blood continued to pour forth from them. Usopp actually felt kinda bad about what he done, but not enough as to show mercy. That would going against a direct order. Usopp walked up to his enemy, removed the karambit from its holding place on his belt, steeled the raging emotion inside, and rammed the curved knife under Chews chin and through his brain. Then quickly removed his 6 inch karambit from the fishman's head, wiped the blood off, and placed it back in his belt.

"Fucking hell dude," muttered Usopp in exasperation, walking off to meet with his friends.

* * *

Luffy throughout the endings to the fights had been hanging with Arlong. The fishman captain had been so dazed by the first punch that he had been unable to stand without assistance. Luckily Luffy had been more than happy to help with that. Arlong had been in a somewhat of a peace daze until Straw Hat grabbed him by the hair and lifted him up.

"Oh, don't tell me you're tired," spoke Luffy in voice that conveyed false concern. Arlong felt the coldest, darkest, and evilest aura he could remember behind him. Not one to give up without a fight, the shark man twisted around and preformed a kick that hit air. Before processing that, a fist connected with his face that had twice the force of the first one. It nearly completely crushed his skull completely and forced him into the ground once again.

Arlong couldn't even fathom what was happening. Pain was wracking through his body with increasing intensity. Even as his vison blurred considerably, the blood being coughed out in large quantities was visible in the form of a large puddle. It was unfathomable. _What the hell is going!_

Luffy lifted Arlong from the ground by his hair once again, reared his left hand, and backhanded the fishman hard. So hard in fact that Arlong's teeth flew out of his mouth, only for a new set to grow back seconds later.

"What's wrong bitch-long? What happened to your fucking fishman are supreme empire bullshit Nami told me about? Where is all that power I heard about?!"

Arlong had an enormous black bruise on his entire left side and his left eye was completely swelled shut. Pain was fucking everywhere and his limp body was only being held up by his hair. The feeling of Arlong's scalp ripping off was driving him insane. Blood was leaking out of his mouth and ears in a slow steady stream.

"Ack, ack! W-w-w-wa-wait." Arlong composed himself to speak again, this time swallowing the fluid pooling in his lungs. "T-t-this is a-about N-N-Nami? Y-you can have her! P-p-pleas-e just leave!"

Luffy lost it

" **Have** her… _ **Have**_ her! You think she's a fucking _object!"_

The Straw Hat roughly grabbed Arlong by the back of the neck and lifted him up so that the fishman could see what was happening around him. _No, this can't be real._ All of Arlong's fishman brothers had been slain in cool blood. In fact he was just in time to see Kuroobi's head go flying into the upper atmosphere. His fishman empire had fallen and apparently it didn't even take long to do so.

"The last thing you will see is your dead brothers. You deserve nothing less bastard," spat Luffy. Then in one fluid motion, he ripped the saw nose off Arlong and plunged it deep into the former Sun Pirates right eye. Pain once again exploded anew, the focus being the fucking hole in the middle of Arlong's face. Blood gushed out of the open orifice like a river and his right eye squeezed blood past his nose and dripped slowly. The sight brought Luffy untold amounts of joy.

And why stop now when the fun was just beginning? The Straw Hat dug his fingers into Arlong's side, located the rib cage, and pulled out the bottom bone with one swift movement. The shark screamed in pure unbridled agony, so loud in fact that all of the townsfolk recoiled in fear. Luffy and Arlong were currently both hidden behind a fallen piece of rubble and the dust cause by Sanji's wall demolition was clouding the area, so no one knew whether that scream came from Luffy or Arlong. Most assumed the worst.

"I knew it was too good to be true," said Genzo gravely, shaking his head. The other townsfolk followed the example, bowing their heads in sadness and respect to the fallen boy. However when they caught sight of Nami, she looked perfectly calm. Cause unlike them, she knew it was impossible for Luffy to lose, not to Arlong anyway. The Hawkeye battle confirmed that much.

Back with Luffy, he was introducing Arlong to yet another new level of torture. The Straw Hat captain had plunged his hand through Arlong's abdomen and after a good bit searching, while pushing organs and sensitive nerves out the way, located the spinal column. Arlong had continued to howl this entire time, in so much pain that he wasn't able to pass out.

"Have you ever played Janga," asked Luffy with an enormous grin. "It's quite simply. All you do is stack up a tower of blocks and pull out blocks one by one, trying to not to let the tower fall. Sadly we can't play because I didn't bring any blocks. Oh wait! I have an idea…"

Luffy positioned his index finger against the T12 vertebrae. "Finger Pistol!"

The T12 ripped out of Arlong's back, soared across Arlong Park and beyond. Then the T11 fell in place where the T12 had been. Blood erupted from Arlong's mouth, his screams dying out altogether. Luffy then posed his finger over the next vertebrae.

"Finger Pistol!" There went another

"Finger Pistol!" Another.

"Finger Pistol!"

"Finger Pistol!"

It was after the seventh vertebrae that Arlong's back, or what was left of it, could no longer support his weight. The fishman's upper body seemed to giggle back and forth before slumping backward in the way only an invertebrate could. Amazingly Arlong was actually still alive and conscious, far beyond the realm of pain. Finally feeling satisfied with himself, Luffy dragged Arlong out in the open for everyone to see. On the way he pasted by Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji, who had been in the process of regrouping and finishing off any stray enemies.

"You guys good," asked the captain in concern. Everyone gave the okay.

"Good." Together they walked towards the gates where the villagers were waiting. Multiple gasp went up when everyone saw the state Arlong was in. A bleeding nine tenths dead fish with his own nose jammed through his eye. Many actually vomited. Usopp really wanted to vomit and probably would later. Luffy threw Arlong in front of everyone, sending them into dead silence.

"Nami."

Nami looked up with a bewildered expression. Actually seeing Arlong very close to death like this was fucking surreal. But when she made eye contact with Luffy, a deep calm set over her. The captain pulled his gun out of its holster and tossed to her. Nami looked at the weapon in confusion.

"I thought you might want to do the honors." Luffy then bent down and lifted Arlong's head and forcibly opened his left swelled shut eye.

Nami then got the hint. He wanted her to shoot Arlong, like Arlong had shoot her mom. To get _Revenge._ And it was very tempting. Everything Arlong had ever done to her flashed before her eyes. A sudden spike of anger appeared. Turning her gaze back to Arlong's dying form didn't bring Nami any sadness or even disgust. Only happiness. He was getting everything he deserved. It was this thought that lifted Nami's arm and drove her to cock the blunderbuss.

Arlong was in a complete state of shock. He knew this was the end, there was no way it couldn't be at this point and frankly Arlong was ready to greet death with open arms at the moment. Even if he could be saved, the memories of this would haunt him until the end of time. No, death would be better. Then light flooded back into his swollen eye. Everything was only shadows at first until the fuzzy images became clear. What he saw was Nami holding a blunderbuss leveled at his head. Hehe, even he could see the irony in this. Well the Arlong Pirates had a good run. _Demon girl._

Nami's eyes cooled and hardened with resolve, putting pressure on the trigger. "This is for Bellemere you arrogant, lying, sadistic, son of a bitch."

And at the same moment Arlong and Nami made eye contact, when owner and former slave met gazes, the mikan haired girl pulled the trigger fully, blowing Arlong's brain out of his head.

* * *

 **A/N:** Love it? Hate it? Sorry these fights were a bit one sided but the crew is becoming very strong very fast. Okay, really awkward question time. Can anyone help me write lemons? Some are coming up soon and I'm just clueless. If nobody can help I guess I can try my hand at it, but don't expect amazing scenes.

Also Usopp carries two pouches for stars on each side in this story for more options.

 **Next Chapter:** Doctor, Doctor! Give me the news!


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** I'm back. Enjoy. Also the next chapter is already done so that will be posted by Monday.

To the victor goes the spoils. You'll understand that by the end of this chapter

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

Luffy sat in between two buildings, cross legged, with a piece of meat wedged in his teeth. This was day of the seemingly endless party happing around all the Comi Islands. For the first day, he had been with everyone else, eating, laughing, and whatever else. So much meat…

"Hey captain." Zoro plopped down right beside Luffy and placed a hand on his shoulder. The swordsman had brought with him several bottles of sake.

"Need something to wash that meat down?"

Luffy quirked an eyebrow. He usually didn't drink because it relaxed him too much and lowered his inhibitions, but a little couldn't hurt. The Straw Hat captain couldn't even get drunk, succumb to alcohol poisoning. Apparently neither could his first mate.

"What the hell I guess."

Luffy grabbed a bottle and knocked it back, getting a grin from Zoro, who also sucked down the liquid like water. After a couple of drinks and a few minutes, the captain was thoroughly buzzed and feeling pretty good. It was a bit of surprise when Sanji sat down next to them and took a bottle from Zoro's pile. The cook drank a whole bottle in less than a minute, then grabbed another, sipping this more slowly.

After a few minutes, each one had a slight flush in the face from the sake. Sanji appeared to be the worst off, not having the alcohol tolerance of Luffy and Zoro.

"Oi," began Luffy, who paused because that came out more slurred than intended. He tried again.

"Oi, you guys did great on your fights, if they can even be called that."

Zoro nodded and put his drink down. "I was hoping for more of a challenge to be honest." The swordsman then put his arm around Sanji and pointed in the cook's general direction.

"This guy was really amazing though." Ok…maybe that sake was effecting Zoro after all. Sanji barely even responded, a huge dumb grin spread across his face.

"Aw, well like y-you said, t-they were light weight," stuttered out Sanji. The swordsman let out a loud laugh at that statement, even though it wasn't particularly funny. However, in their relaxed state, Luffy and Sanji saw the nonexistent humor and laughed along.

As the laughter died down, Luffy heard something that caught his ear.

"Is Usopp still telling stories, after 2 days?!"

Sanji nodded dumbly with Zoro's arm still around his neck, "I think were on chronicle 2, novel 5, chapter 528, verse 9 of Captain Usopp the marvelous."

"W-what, shsishsishi!" The others laughed along and looked around the alley to see Usopp on top of a large statue straight out of Burning Man, telling the great story of his life. He had drawn in quite the following as well, many laughing their drunk asses off.

Luffy leaned back in the alley and chuckled a little. "Hey, do you know where Nami is?"

Zoro scratched the back of his head and scratched Sanji's head for him so they could both think together. It was a good minute before either man spoke.

"Well, I haven't seen her personally except for a few times yesterday. Probably at that house for the most part."

Sanji nodded in agreement and sipped on another bottle. "O-O-Oi, Luffy, w-why do y-ya wa-ant to see N-Nami-san?

Luffy shrugged, "I want to make sure she's doing okay mentally. This whole ordeal couldn't have been easy." Sanji accepted this, although he probably would have accepted anything at this point. But then out of nowhere, the cook stood and yelled follow me before running into the woods.

Luffy had some idea what Sanji wanted to show them because he had requested a specialty item earlier yesterday. The trio went pretty deep into the forest, far enough so that the sounds of partying faded completely. After a while, a delicious smelling aroma filled everyone's nostrils, slowly growing stronger before they reached a small clearing. It actually looked like Sanji kicked down some trees down to make this clearing. In the middle of this small opening, was a wood fueled fire, a large metal pot, and three logs to act as seats.

Sanji went over to the pot and produced a ladle, stirring slowly. The broth was a medley of oranges, deep yellows, and browns. Chucks of meat, potatoes, clams, oysters, spices, assorted veggies, all came together in a perfect looking stew. Taking out the ladle, Sanji brought it to his lips and tasted, smiling in satisfaction. He then produced three bowls, filling each one and handing it off to Luffy, Zoro, and himself. The three sat down on each log and began feasting.

"Oi, cook. Why did you make this," asked Zoro, going in for thirds. Luffy was grinning ear to ear, drinking down his fourth bowl, nearly breaking out into hysterics at the question. Sanji looked up to answer, an odd bemused smirk.

"I made it for my sadistic, crazed, captain. It was a personal request. I actually had to get pretty shit faced to even think about eating this."

Zoro raised an eyebrow as Sanji grabbed the ladle again and went deep into the stew before lifting it out. The swordsman screamed and fell backwards at the site of a humanoid lifting from the liquid. He started hyperventilating and looking at Luffy, who was laughing his head off. Zoro nearly screamed again when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Calm down Marimo. I don't cook people, captain's orders or not. But I may have turned a certain saw nose fishman into soup as a special request."

Zoro calmed down considerably, but was still a bit spooked. He sat back on the log and wiped a hand across his face. Jeez, what type of man was he following?

"Hey Sanji, save that skull. I want something show the marines at headquarters." Sanji didn't even look up from his eating.

"Will do cap."

Zoro, who was now fully relaxed again, wondered how in the hell Sanji could be so calm about this. _He was the one who fucking cooked the fishman! Are they both completely insane?! Well, whatever I guess._ The swordsman went in for fourths, deciding to turn the rational part of his brain off and just enjoy the ride.

It was a about an hour later, when the soup was gone and the jokes had run dry, Luffy called it a night and said he was going to talk to Nami. Sanji was passed out and had no opinion, Zoro nodded and threw the cook over his shoulder, telling Luffy good night.

As the captain walked towards Nami's house, he picked up several bottles of sake on the way. Soon, after a slow jog through the forest, he found himself in the prized tangerine garden. It was a particularly nice spot, illumined beautifully in the moon light. Each single tangerine reflected the light and shined like lightbulbs, glowing a dim orange. Truly a great place to reclaim his buzz before going to talk with Nami.

Finding a good place to sit in the soft dirt, Luffy opened a bottle and sucked it down greedily. Realizing that he was drinking pretty fast, the Straw Hat slowed down a bit. That had been another reason Luffy had tended to steer clear of alcohol. He drank way to much once getting a taste. It felt good to relax. Really good. But refrain from getting too buzzed he must or it could lead to some sort of bad decision.

Around the third bottle was when a cold blast of air came out of nowhere. Something odd…nearly supernatural was going on. There was a presence that apparently couldn't be detected through Observation Haki, however, literally every other sense was screaming that something infinitely more dangerous than Hawkeye, Ace, or even Garp was in the area.

It was like a haunting had happened or something. The moons light visibly darkened from a pure white to a more reddish color. _Is this all in my head?_ This feeling, despite how surreal it was, couldn't be described as unfamiliar. In fact it was bringing up many memories, not one being pleasant. Yes, there could only be one person behind him.

"Hello, my son."

Luffy took a rather long swig of his sake, enjoying the warmth in his stomach before it was stolen away by the man's icy aura. If need be, that voice alone could probably freeze the ocean. And now Luffy was picking up on how ancient it sounded, as if he had been alive 1000 years.

"Hello Doctor."

* * *

"So you're really leaving for good this time?"

Nami nodded slowly, taking a sip from the bottle of sake her and Nojiko were sharing. The two girls had been talking for most of the night, realization setting in for both of them that neither would see each other for a long, possibly indefinite time period. Nojiko stood and stretched.

"I still cannot believe this is even real. Arlong dead. Arlong Park literally being ripped from the ground and thrown into the sea, Genzo fainting after you shot Arlong, and that bomb ass new tattoo."

Nami smiled and looked down. However, when she looked back up to meet her sister's eyes, they held a playful glint. Nojiko leaned forward until her lips where next to Nami's ear, and slowly started to whisper.

"So~ what's going on between you and Luffy?"

The mikan haired girls eyes widen and she shoved her sister back in embarrassment, blush coating her entire face. "Nojiko!"

Nami's sister chuckled at the embarrassment, confirming what she had suspected. "Wait, have you to gotten…physical yet," asked Nojiko, with a hand over her mouth in mock surprise. Nami, who now looked like a tomato, shook her head furiously. Her sister smiled.

"Well, Genzo will be happy to hear that. I think he is still worried about you going with these pirate though. Everyone, especially that captain, seemed rather violent."

Nami sighed and murmured, "The Arlong Pirates deserved nothing less." Nojiko couldn't disagree with that sentiment. In fact she was sure if Luffy had handed that pistol anyone else – including her – they would have shot too. Nami wasn't done however.

"Plus, Luffy may be cruel to his enemies, but he really is sweet when it comes to his me and the rest of the crew. Also he's a genius, funny, and confident. Also I feel safe near him."

Nojiko raised an eye. Had Nami actually fallen in love? Seemed like it, but she had to know for sure. "Nami, do you love him?"

"…Yes," whispered out Nami, looking down. When she looked up, she saw that Nojiko was wearing a look Bellemere often wore. One of knowing, sadness, but also happiness. The blue haired girl walked over to Nami and hugged her tightly. Then after the rather emotional moment, Nojiko walked towards the door. But before walking out she looked back one last time.

"Have fun little sis. I'll want to see that world map when it's done," she said with a wink, then left.

* * *

The Straw Hat captain kept his back to the Doctor, not wanting or needing to see him. That voice was enough.

Doctor M. cackled a bit at some inside joke. His hands were stuffed in the jacket pocket of his white lab coat. Circular framed glasses reflected the light perfectly, making his eyes non visible to any viewer. His lab coat apparently was very adept at reflecting light as well, because it was currently glowing with ethereal light. Or maybe the light was coming from the fabric all together. Something else was also off. Despite the breeze, the jacket stayed completely stiff. Odd.

The very white jacket also contrasted well with the tan skin of the Doctor. Slight wrinkles around the mouth and eyes were hardly visibly. Despite the Doctor seeming to be an older man, although he only looked to be in his 50s, he had a very thick head of air. His white locks were sticking straight up like a sayians. His pants were a dull black, same with his scuffed boots.

"I see you've been doing quite well. And talk about growth! Big and strong just like I predicted. Excellent dual with Hawkeye I might add."

"How did-"

Luffy stopped himself from going any further. The answer was pretty obvious.

"Tch, Tch. Of course I've been present here and there since you left Dawn Island. Obviously this is to be expected, as I have been waiting for this year nearly as much as you have. Probably more so."

A vein formed next to Luffy's eye, blood boiling with anger. " **Why!** "

Any patience was gone out the door. He had waited quite a while to ask this question to Doctor M. _Why, why, why!_ But being a master of invasion and psychology in general, the Doctor would answer that question with a question. Or series of questions.

"Did you use my gift?"

"…"

"May I ask why?" Talking to the Doctor was like playing chess. A game Luffy was good sure, just not good enough to beat the master.

"Because…to get…stronger," responded Luffy, pronouncing each word as a question, not entirely sure how to proceed.

"And how, may I ask, did you know it would increase your strength?"

 _Fuck!_

When the doctor saw that Luffy wasn't going to give an answer, he continued to speak.

"You see son, even though my methods of showing love for you may hurt at first, the results are quite smashing. They say you can tell a trees worth by the fruits it produces and my fruits are doing just fine. Even you, with all your proposed hate against me realizes that you wouldn't be half as strong and defiantly not as wise without my nurturing guidance."

Luffy spoke quickly in response, hating the Doctors words. Hating that he was _right_. "But why?! Why do all this!"

Doctor M. fell silent for a couple a moments. The perpetual grin falling a bit for the first time, instead being replaced by a somber expression.

"Because our dreams, our purposes, coincide as one I suppose." Luffy's ears perked.

"You could call me a helper to the clan of D. The _last_ helper to the clan of D. Hehe, I'm not even sure you know of that yet."

 _Clan of D?_

"My time runs short. Places to be and what not. But before I go, some advice is in order. Never form an alliance with a man having the will of D, as your wills may clash. Avoid a fight with the 5th Younko if possible, and beware of any mist you cannot see through."

Luffy quickly dedicated it all to memory, knowing it all would be important later."

"Well I've said all I need to say. Good luck in the Grand Line. Also, if you ever want to see something interesting, go talk to the revolutionaries. And if you ever see some guy named Law, tell him Doctor M said hi."

The wind suddenly picked up, indicating the Doctors departure. Speaking of, said man was grinning like crazy, remembering one more piece of advice.

"Beware of the true monsters Luffy."

In all the suddenness, the Straw Hat had forgotten to ask a question that just wouldn't go away for some reason. Quickly he finally turned around to ask.

"What does the M stand for!?"

But when the captain turned around, it was too late. Nothing but the tangerine trees staring back at him. Luffy lowered his hat and breathed deeply in and out.

* * *

Nami was sitting down at the table in the kitchen, staring deeply into an empty sake glass. Deep in thought, she was rather startled when the door was knocked on harshly. _It can't be Nojiko, she would just walk in. Same for Genzo._ Getting up, she walked over and opened the door, nearly squeaking at who it was.

Luffy's hair looked disheveled under his straw hat, which basically worked will with his current expression. It wasn't fear or anger. Possibly frustration? His eyes, as usual, refused to give away much except that they were red with weariness. His hands were stuffed in his jacket pockets and posture was slouched. Despite this, Luffy managed a grin when they made eye contact.

"Hello Nami. I just stopped by to see if you were okay. Are you okay?"

Nami smiled warmly. "Yes captain, I'm doing just fine." Luffy sighed in relief.

"That's good. I wouldn't have been able to relax otherwise. Well, we set sail tomorrow, so I guess I'll let you get some sleep. Night Nami," spoke Luffy happily, showing his full set of teeth. A warm feeling spread through the orange haired girl, along with a blooming idea. This most likely be the last time her and Luffy were completely alone for a while. Might as try something a little crazy. Also thank god she had some sake before this, as every ounce of confidence would be needed.

"Luffy, why don't you come inside for a bit?"

The captain saw absolutely nothing wrong with this, walking in and enjoying the warm air. Oddly though, Nami took his hand and led him past the kitchen into the bedroom, sitting him down on the bed next to him. Luffy looked around the room, admiring the interior. Considering where he grew up, it was no reason the captain thought it was nice.

"Cool room," spoke Luffy sincerely. These words shocked Nami a little, especially considering how poor she always considered herself to be back when Bellemere was still alive. Guess it really was a matter of perspective.

"It's nothing really. Did you not have a big house? With all that money I would have though you could live comfortably."

Luffy chuckled a little to himself, the smile running away from his face as memories flooded in. "Naw. To be honest, by the age of 9 I was basically living outside and the home I did have was a small shack full of mountain bandits where I shared a room with my big brother Ace."

Nami perked up a bit. "Ace…You've mentioned him before right?"

"Yep. I think I have his bounty poster around here," spoke the rubberman, patting his jacket pockets.

Now, it wasn't like the mikan haired girl was not interested in Luffy's brother, in fact it sounded very interesting. But right now, she really wanted his mouth pressed against hers. She also knew that this would be an uphill battle considering Luffy's natural gentleman ways. Nami doubted he would lay one stray hand on her without permission. Throwing subtle to the wind, along with dignity, Nami made a bold move and placed her hand on Luffy's upper hip and tried to lean in closer so that her face was closer to her captain's. Sadly, instead of being the little romantic push forward she intended, this act caused Luffy to jerk upwards and fall with his back on the bed, giggling like a kid.

 _Wait, is Luffy ticklish?_

"Shishishi, W-why'd you do that," asked Luffy through a fit of giggles, wiping away the tears that had formed on the sides of his eyes. Damn, what are the odds that Nami would find the one ticklish spot he had. The area had also been sensitive sense the sparing match that ended with Luffy having his left hip dislocated by Ace's Haki infused punch. A true testament to his brother's strength considering Luffy is made of rubber. It hadn't even hurt that much and it popped back in easily, but Ace had insisted that they stop for the day. The memory brought a larger grin to Luffy's face, especially the part where he managed to beat Ace into the ground the next day as revenge. All these thoughts distracted Luffy enough to where he didn't notice Nami climbing on top of him until they were face to face.

The raven raised an eyebrow, "Nami…" He stopped talking as her completely flushed face slowly got closer to his. After another second, their lips were brushing before connecting fully in a chaste kiss. For the first time ever, Luffy's face heated up. Although it was mostly in surprise. As she pressed her lips more firmly into his, Luffy just kept wondering what the hell to his hands, like seriously. Taking a shot in the dark, he rested his hands on the small of Nami's back, which gave her more fuel to continue.

A tongue probed at Luffy's lips and asked for entrance, which he granted without thought. This began a tongue battle for dominance, one that Luffy easily began winning. Even though the Strawhat captain wouldn't know what to do with that dominance once he had it, he felt like asking would ruin the mood. Instead he relied on the power of memory and recalled something Ace had told him.

" _Hey Luffy, come over here for a second."_

" _Hmm, what is it Ace?"_

" _Did you see those girls checking you out in town_?"

" _Uh, I guess I did feel like someone was staring at me. What about it?"_

" _Well, are you going to score with them or what," asked Ace with a wide grin while nudging his brother._

" _Mm, probably not. Makino said I should wait till I'm older to do that stuff. Plus that is time I could be training."_

 _Ace sighed at his brother's lack of testosterone. "Whatever then Luffy. But since I'm leaving in a couple months, let me give you some handy tips if you ever get a girl into bed…"_

Luffy closed his eyes and silently thanked heaven for the gift of his brother and his brother's perverted knowledge. Now that he knew what to do, he could go all out like in everything else he did. Using his superior strength, Luffy flipped Nami over so that he was on top and broke the kiss for a moment. His navigator's eyes opened slowly as if in a haze, her face red as a tomato.

"L-Luffy…"

"…be gentle for my first time."

Luffy gave her what he hoped looked like a confident grin, even though he was still really nervous about doing this. "Okay."

The raven leaned in but instead of reconnecting lips, he tenderly began sucking on Nami's earlobe, which got a lovely moan out her. Utilizing what Ace told him, he stealthily snuck a hand under Nami's shirt and began rubbing her nipple through the bra material. The girl underneath him began to writhe and twist in pleasure.

"L-L-Luffy," she moaned out, becoming lost in pleasure. She really couldn't believe how good he was at this. Was this even his first time or was this just instinct? Moving lower, Luffy began nibbling lightly on Nami's collarbone, which happened to be a sensitive spot for the girl because she began moaning very loudly each time he would bite down and suck. Then all of a sudden he stopped, making her give out an irritated groan at the missing sensation.

"Hey Nami, can you lift your arms?"

She nodded dumbly and raised her arms after sitting up, allowing Luffy to remove her shirt. Afterward he immediately went to Nami's collarbone like a magnet. If it didn't feel so good then maybe she would have had time to think about what an embarrassing expression she was making. Luffy removed his hand from Nami's left breast and went about trying to undo the bra clip which apparently was harder to accomplish than a devil fruit user learning to swim. Getting frustrated, he just more or less tore the garment off her and went back to business.

As soon as that was done, Luffy lowered his head and attached his mouth to Nami's right nipple while his left hand continued where it left off. All the while Luffy kept thinking _Holy shit its soft! It's like a magic pillow sent from the Gods as a gift to the righteous. Okay, how much foreplay did Ace recommend for a virgin again? 5 minutes? 10? I can't think anymore._

"Luuuuuffffffyy!~"

Well, it looked like he was doing something right. Hmm, should he try licking it now? Even with the comprehensive chart Ace had made him dedicate to memory, it still seemed pretty challenging. Although, he did want to make this really good for Nami. Moving his head next to the trembling thief, he whispered in his most seductive voice, "Lift your legs sweetheart." For a second it looked like she didn't hear him, but then slowly she complied.

Gently, he slide Nami's skirt off, revealing a pair of extremely damp white panties. Before the girl could protest he quickly slide those off as well, revealing the tender lips of Nami's pussy. Immediately, Nami closed her legs tight and rolled to the side, her face practically glowing.

"Don't look!"

It appeared that his navigator was feeling self-conscious, guess the licking would have to wait for another day. Realizing that he was still fully clothed, Luffy removed his jacket and long sleeve shirt he had on. Doing this revealed the scaring on his arms, but at the moment he couldn't care less. Moving back to the middle of the bed where Nami had taken to the fetal position, he softly moved her face so that it faced his and began kissing again. They rolled around French kissing for a few more minutes until Nami's leg brushed up against something very hard in Luff's pants. Instantly she felt bad that he had been pleasuring him this whole time while he was just tormented with more frustration.

She snaked a hand downward and latched onto the outline of his penis through his pants, making the captain moan out in pleasure and shutter a bit. Wanting to get an even better reaction, she tried stroking it through the material, which worked incredibly considering Luffy wasn't wearing underwear. Before her very eyes, the most power man in the East Blue became a mumbling, moaning, sweating, wreak. Being able to do this to him turned her on beyond belief.

"L-Luffy. P-Put it in."

For a second he didn't even know if Nami had even said anything, to loss in the foreign sensation. The second time she asked it was able to reach his ears. He looked into her eyes for one last sign of consent, before unzipping his pants and pulling out all 8 inches of mini Luffy. Nami's slender hand reached out and took hold of the cock, positioning it over her entrance. She wasn't too worried about the pain, seeing that her hymen had been tore while in a bar fight and she was more than wet at this point. Slowly, Luffy eased it in, searching for any sign that he should stop, go slower, go faster, or unleash the beast. Nami let out a small whimper, which didn't give Luffy any sufficient information about how to proceed, so faster it is.

He gradually slide in and out faster until he was at pace where he could get enough stimulation and not kill Nami at the same time. Based on all the moaning and squeaking, she seemed to be enjoying it too. The feeling of being inside Nami was better than anything Luffy had ever experienced. Every time she contracted around his cock, he saw stars. The already impossibly tight Nami just kept getting tighter. In and out, in and out, he grew faster until he was a blur.

"L-L-LUUUUFFFYY!"

A sudden increase in a tightness nearly made him die from pleasure right there and then, but a new feeling building inside him brought him back to his senses.

"Nami, I-I can't hold it anymore…Aha! I-I'm coming!"

One second before he exploded inside of her, something Ace had stresses more than anything came flying into his mind.

"… _And lastly…NEVER FORGET TO PULL OUT!"_

With this in mind, Luffy quickly removed himself from Nami before dumping his load onto her stomach and breast. It was enough cum to cover her torso completely. The captain had three seconds to look at his handy work before a feeling of enormous exhaustion overtook him. He might have pasted out right there had it not been for the need to wipe the cum off a hyperventilating Nami. Looking around the room, he spotted some convent looking towels. Walking on shaking legs, he grabbed them form a night stand and walked back over to Nami, cleaning her off.

"L-Lu-ma-asd," mumbled out Nami, looking very tired and a bit confused. This got a little chuckle out of Luffy as he picked the girl up bridal style, pulled back the covers and put her back in the bed before getting in as well. He didn't think she would mind. Since there was only one pillow, they two snuggled up closely and dozed off quickly. The last thing Luffy heard before completely falling asleep were Nami's words whispered into his ear.

"I love you."

Before he could reply, the orange haired girl was already asleep. Luffy smiled and let the warm feeling in his chest lead him to dreamland. Thus marked the first time in over 10 years that Monkey D. Luffy was able to sleep for over 7 hours.

* * *

 **Somewhere in the New World**

Ace awoke with a start, causing some of the others in Whitebeards ship to turn and look at him.

"You okay Ace?"

Ace looked around in daze for a while before nodding. "Yeah I'm good. I just had the sudden urge to high five my little brother and share a bottle of sake with him."

* * *

 **A/N:** Yes, they ate Arlong…is that wrong? Also, Doctor M's first appearance after chapter 1. What do you think? Is he truly evil or just looking after Luffy's wellbeing? Who is the 5th Younko? Find out next time on Dragon Ba…wrong anime.

Also this was my first time ever writing a lemon so comment on that as well. Thank god for Ace and his perverted advice.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** Thank goodness this is done. It was just so boring to write, but it is done. This might actually be the first purely transitional chapter I've done, but it was necessary I guess. Also a lot about Ace is revealed in this chapter. Oh, you guys can make up what you think happened to Johnny and Yosaku because I hate them too much and didn't mention them.

Had mixed reviews last chapter and that's to be expected considering what went down. No comment on the possibility of a harem.

 **Devlin Dracul: I'll give you a hint. The 5** **th** **Yonko is not a pirate.**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

The rising sunlight filtered through the trees casting long shadows throughout the small forest. A lone swordsman walked slowly through the wooded area without a hurry of any kind. In fact, the man was whistling a somewhat off key but never the less carefree tune. As he reach the destination in mind, it only took a quick glace to spot the creature he was looking for under a small rock formation. Walking at the same leisurely pace, the green haired swordsman made his way over to the ex Arlong Pirate.

"Oi, octopus. Wake up."

The slouched over Hatchan came out of dreamland with a start and immediately raised his hands over his head. Zoro rubbed his face in irritation.

"Oi, if I was going to hurt you, you'd be in pain already. The marines are probably going to show up today so I suggest you leave." With that being said, Zoro turned around walked towards where he had camped out with Sanji. That lousy cook needed to be woken up and sent to the kitchen early so that when they left in probably 3 more hours, breakfast would already be done. Before he could disappear in the forest again, Hatchan scrambled up and reached out for Zoro's arm. However, it was batted away before he could grab hold.

"What do you want fishman," asked Zoro in an uninterested tone. Tears started to pour out of Hatchan, and his voice became choked up.

"Why?! Why didn't you kill me like the others?! Why help me even now, when you didn't have to?!"

Zoro answered without hesitation. "Because Nami asked me to spare your life. If she didn't want you to die, one of the bastards that killed her mom and forced her into slavery, I figure you must have done something worthy of forgiveness." Then the green haired swordsman kept walking until he reached the tree line, a grin forming on his face. "Plus I happen to be pretty fond of swordsmen," then he disappeared, leaving a crying Hatchan behind.

It took about 5 minutes of leisurely walking for Zoro to make it back to where he and Sanji had camped out last night. The cook was currently resting his head on a log and had his jacket laid over him like a blanket. Light snoring sounds could be heard if you were close enough. This version of Sanji was the only one Zoro could tolerate easily. Of course drunk Sanji was also cool.

Once over there, the swordsman kicked Sanji hard enough in the side to wake him up and a little extra just in case. The blond groaned a bit and rolled, causing his head to slide off the log and into the damp grass.

"MMMmmmhh, Geeerrmma siiix~" murmured Sanji, still half asleep.

"Oi curly cue ball, stop spouting nonsense and get up."

Sanji's eyes fluttered before he attempted to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Still groaning, he sat up and looked around. The small amount of sunlight filtering through the trees made him cringe a bit as his eyes adjusted to light again. Finally, he stood up, dusted himself off, put his jacket back on, and lit a cigarette that magically appeared in his mouth. After a rather deep drag and exhale, Sanji looked towards Zoro, acknowledging his existence.

"Cook, start making food. We leave in three hours or less. Preferably less."

This message having been given, Zoro walked off, disappearing in the thick foliage. Sanji stood in the clearing for another three minutes, puffing small clouds of smoke, trying to remember what the hell happened last night and why he had such a bad headache. After nothing came to mind, he shrugged, dropping his cigarette and stamping it out before walking towards the Going Merry.

Meanwhile, Zoro appeared in town where everyone was cleaning up after two nights of celebration. Everyone who he walked past waved and smiled at him, not forgetting he contributed to their new found freedom. He would grunt out a response to each greeting, and ask if they had seen a certain long nose story teller around. Eventually, the swordsman ran into Nami's only sibling, who was also helping out in the cleanup.

"Have you seen Usopp," asked Zoro tiredly. As soon as they were on the sea again, he was taking a nap. Unless Luffy decided more training was in order,

"Hmm, you mean the long nosed guy? Yea, I think he is in the alley beside the bookstore over there," she said while gesturing further down the strip. Zoro nodded in thanks before moving in that direction. However, he was stopped by Nojiko grabbing his arm.

"Don't you want to know where Luffy and Nami are?" Zoro quirked an eyebrow.

"No. Luffy doesn't sleep long or at all, so it would be pointless to go wake him up. As for Nami, I don't want to hear her mouth if I wake her from her 'beauty sleep.'" With that, he shoved his hands in his pockets and marched off to locate and awaken Usopp.

Nojiko smiled smugly and placed a hand on her hip. "Shame, he would have saw something pretty interesting."

* * *

Luffy's eyes snapped open and instantly began looking around where ever the heck he was, because his memory was failing him completely. Everything looked kinda fuzzy and grayish for a second until he realized that he wasn't using Observation to enhance his vison for some reason. Immediately everything became clear again once he activated his Haki which usually was never inactive so that was weird. But then came the next shock. His Observation locked on to someone laying right beside him. In fact this person had both slender arms wrapped around his torso and their face was pressed into the crook of his neck breathing peacefully. Breathing in deeply, the scent of tangerines invaded his senses.

 _Oh_

He looked down to see perfect orange locks sticking up at somewhat random ends. Along with that perfect orange hair was the flawless sleeping face of his navigator. _Damn she's cute._ Without thinking he pulled Nami closer to him, enjoying this a little more than what was healthy. _What time is it? How did I sleep so long? I should probably start getting ready to leave…why do I not want to move?_

After an internal battle that lasted all of six seconds, he decided to just wait until Nami decided to wake up. Until then he would just lay here and stroke her hair lovingly. It was fifteen more minutes before Nami started to slowly come out of sleep. First squirming a bit in Luffy's arms, then muttering a little, before gently opening her eyes.

"Hello beautiful," whispered Luffy just loud enough for it to be audible. She slowly looked up and let her eyes lock on Luffy's. For the first time since they had met, Nami didn't see any turmoil in his eyes or a wall holding back a three oceans worth of pain. Right now he was completely open and it made her shiver with attraction.

"L-Luffy," stuttered out Nami, still slightly mesmerized. She attempted to sit up until the realization struck that she was completely naked. Her face instantly began to burn with embarrassment, which got a chuckle out the Strawhat captain. He slowly slide out of bed despite the protest by Nami.

"We leave in about three hours, so get ready. Wouldn't want to forget anything right," asked Luffy while putting on his shoes and jacket. Then he walked out of the room and closed it behind him so Nami could get dressed without further embarrassment. The fact she was getting embarrassed even after he had saw every inch of her body already was completely ridiculous to Luffy, but whatever made her comfortable. Wasn't like he knew much about females anyway.

Shrugging, he went about making a nice pot of tea, thinking Nami probably wouldn't mind. The act was so ingrained into his brain it was basically a reflex.

 _"_ _Ace, I hate sleeping! All I see is the Doctor in the dark!"_

 _"_ _Is that why you've been trying to force yourself to drink coffee?"_

 _"_ _Yea, it helps me to stay awake but it taste like dirt. What am I going to do? I don't want to sleep."_

 _"_ _Well I'm not going to encourage you to keep going without sleep, but until those nightmares stop I guess I'll help you look for an alternative."_

 _*sniff* "T-Thank you Ace."_

 _"_ _Count on me Luffy, I'll always be there when you need it from now on. Just count on me…_

Lost in thought, Luffy almost didn't realize that his water was done. Turning off the heat, he removed the pot and poured the water in a mug he found. Then dipped the teabags he had found in the water until it turned from a clear liquid to a murky brown.

 _"_ _Something that acts like coffee?"_

 _"_ _Yea Makino, maybe something that's hot to."_

 _"_ _Hot…isn't Luffy afraid of fire?"_

 _"_ _Well yea but this might be a good chance for him to overcome that as well. I'll help him with it as long as it takes. Even if I don't leave a 17, I'll stay until he can look at fire again without screaming."_

 _"_ _Oh Ace. Luffy is lucky to have a brother like you. Okay, I have some tea Earl Gray tea leaves in the back, boil some water with the tea leaves in it then ask Luffy to try it."_

 _"_ _Gotcha."_

Luffy brought the mug to his lips, savoring the flavor. Tea for Luffy was almost like cigarettes for Sanji. After the sip, he reached into his jacket and after a bit of searching through the pockets, he located a folded piece of paper. Putting down the mug, he carefully unfolded the paper until the Ace's face on the bounty poster was fully visible.

"Ace…"

"Is that your brother?" Luffy jumped a little. Apparently he was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Nami come from her room, now fully dressed. The girl walked over to the pot, pouring her own cup of tea before sitting next to Luffy at the table.

"Uh yea, that's my brother Ace."

Nami had to admit, the guy was pretty good looking. Must run in the family. She was so caught up in his looks that she almost missed the number under his face. Almost.

"H-H-Hellfire Ace! 750,000,000 berries!? This is your brother?!"

"Yep, that's my big brother. That number would probably be higher if he hadn't joined Whitebeard though."

Nami was nearly on the verge of fainting. When she first met Luffy, his strength had amazed her to no end. It still did. But now came the knowledge that everyone related to Luffy might be as strong as or stronger than him. What star were they born under?

"L-Luffy, didn't you say that you and your brother use to spar each day?"

"Shishi, yea. That takes me back."

"Did you ever win?"

Luffy took a sip of tea and pondered that. "Yes, but only three times. One of which was a draw. My Observation easily beat his, but because I never developed Armament Haki and he did, it was hard to even damage the guy. That's why I started trying to use Kings Haki like Armament in way to break his defenses easier, so it really came down to a battle of wills at that point. In fact, the three times I did win was when I made a new gear he didn't know how to counter yet."

95% of everything Luffy just said flew way over Nami's head, so she didn't even try to question it. Rather, she did the far simpler task of focusing on sipping tea and admiring Luffy's good looks. Right now his hat was off, which gave a rare view of his messy black locks.

"Hey Nami, why did you want that octopus guy to live, if you don't mind me asking."

This question snapped her out of the stupor and brought her to a much less comforting place. Luffy place a hand on top of hers, noticing that she was slightly troubled. The small gesture did wonders to calm her down.

"Well, around the time I started to mature, some of Arlong's fishmen got drunk one day and decided that I would be the perfect target to release some pent up frustration on. Four of them attacked me while I was in my map room and tried to force themselves on me. I tried to fight back, even stabbed one with my pen, but it only made them angrier. T-They ripped all my clothes off and were about to...well you know, but then Hatchan came…

 _"_ _You guys shouldn't be doing that."_

 _"_ _Come on Hachi, I haven't busted a nut in like three weeks! We promise not to hurt her too much if she plays along of course."_

 _"_ _I said_ _ **STOP!**_ _"_

 _The four turned around fully to see an enraged Hatchan, which was more horrifying than expected. Especially considering no one had really seen him truly mad before. The four of them probably wouldn't be able to win this fight and if they did, it was Arlong himself which they would have to answer to._

 _"_ _Whatever Hachi. Never took you for a human sympathizer. "_

 _The four slinked off to find an easier target. After they had left, Hatchan went to the side of a crying Nami._

 _"_ _Are you okay?"_

 _*sob* "J-J-Just leave m-me alone," spoke Nami through tears, curling up into the fetal position. Hatchan respected the response and left without another word…_

"…And that is what happened."

Nami looked up to see Luffy reaction and if he would think less of her. What she saw was a fire behind her captain's eyes, as if someone had stepped on his hat.

"I wish I could kill them all again."

Luffy abruptly stood up and walked towards the table which his hat was perched on. He picked it up and was about to place it on his own head before walking back over to Nami and placing it on hers. Then he leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead, after he located his sword in the corner, placed the sheath on his back, and headed for the door.

"I'm going to the ship a little early. See you in a few." And with that he went out the door, leaving a flustered and flushed Nami in his wake. After a few seconds of being alone, she reached up and touched the brim of Luffy's treasure. The act brought up a warm feeling that even beat the still steaming tea in her mug.

Outside, Luffy walked away from the house and was about to head towards the Merry, but decided to go where the cliff was instead. It kinda reminded him of the cliff at his hometown and had a nice view of the ocean. As the captain made his way up there though, he noticed that the spot was already occupied. It was the man he saved from those fishmen from earlier, the one with all the stiches coving his body, sitting cross legged at a humble grave.

Luffy walked up beside Genzo and sat down as well, each one looking off into the distance. It was at least a full five minutes before someone spoke.

"Nami is going with you I take it."

"Yes."

Genzo sighed. "You make her smile and I can tell you truly care for your crew members, so I won't object to her leaving with you."

"Tha-"

"However, if you ever take away her smile, I will find and kill you."

Luffy grinned a bit and stood up. "Then you'll never have to leave this island then."

Then Luffy walked away, leaving a slightly less uneasy Genzo.

* * *

Zoro was awakened from his nap when a soft thud alerted him to another crew member coming aboard. Since Usopp and Sanji were already here and Nami was probably still saying goodbyes, it had to be the captain.

"Oi, what took you so long," asked Zoro without opening an eye.

"I was enjoying the view," responded Luffy with a bit mirth behind his words. That was much too cryptic for Zoro to try to decipher at the moment, so he didn't question any further. It wasn't as if he would have gotten to say more anything because the raven seemed to get distracted by something that wasn't yet on the horizon.

Even without opening an eye, Zoro sensed his captain's shift in demeanor and touched the hilt of Wado, sheathing and unsheathing the blade. It was maybe a minute after this that a Navy vessel appeared on the horizon, still a few miles out.

"Navy incoming. About 30 marines. I don't any of them are particularly strong though. What do you think?"

Zoro stopped his ministrations for a second and thought. "I don't think they are here to fight. Surely, they would have sent at least five battle ships if they were going to actually try to take you on. If I had to guess, I'd say that they were here to pick up that rat marine from earlier."

Luffy scanned the shore and sure enough Captain Nezumi and the three remaining marines that were still alive were signaling to the incoming ship. Looks like Zoro's intuition was spot on.

"Speak of the devil."

As the Navy ship got closer, Luffy was better able to read their auras and discerned that the marines aboard were quite fearful. Guess they must have heard about him in some way, shape, or form. Although if he already had this type of reputation, surely a bounty had been issued right? Eh, he'd find out sooner or later. _Ace had a pretty high first bounty at 91,000,000 berries, so I hope I can best that._

The Navy ship finally pulled up at the shore about 200 hundred yards away from where the Going Merry was stationed on the docks. Nezumi and his men were all but carried onto the ship deck, begging the whole time to just get the hell off the island.

"Please! P-Please pull anchor and leave! We have-"

"Leaving so soon?"

Everyone on the marine ship screamed and fell to the floor. The ones holding rifles actually threw them down and placed their hands over their heads as if expecting a bombing. After realizing no attack came, they looked up to see a hatless Luffy standing on the railing of the ship. The captain of this vessel attempted to speak up, but his voice caught and died in his throat. However, he did make enough noise to catch Luffy's attention.

Finding his voice, the marine captain spoke. "I-I-I…we need to reclaim t-the Arlong P-Pirates b-bodies." Luffy's grin grew wider.

"Well why didn't you say so?" The pirate captain raised his open hand to the air as if expecting something to fall from the sky. Sure enough a small rounded object seemed to be descending from the sky, falling rather quickly until landing perfectly in Luffy's hand. _Holy crap I can't believe that went so smoothly!_

In his was the skull of Arlong, which he had asked Zoro to throw to him for dramatic effect before coming over here. At first, the marines believed this skull to be human and nearly shit themselves before realizing that it was clearly different. For one the teeth were way to sharp and it was much bigger than a normal humans.

"This is what's left of the Arlong Pirates. The rest are chilling at the bottom of the ocean with Arlong Park if you're interested."

Luffy then casually tossed Arlong's skull to the closest marine, who immediately fumbled and dropped it, acting as if he touched a hot stove. The rest were still frozen in fright. Saying nothing else, the Strawhat captain geppo'd back to his ship. Though it only took him a few seconds, when he looked back, the Navy ship was already in full retreat.

"Oi Luffy, where's your hat," asked Zoro, appearing have not moved from his pervious resting postion.

"At Nami's house."

"Why?"

"I woke her up this morning," replied Luffy, not lying in the least.

"And you forgot your hat?"

Luffy paused for a second. Everyone on this ship knew he wouldn't just _forget_ his most valuable item in the world. "Nami still seemed a bit down, so I lent it to her." Not a complete lie.

The swordsman stood up and walked past Luffy towards the stairs that lead the kitchen, stopping just before reaching them. "Be careful Luffy. You're treading waters more dangerous than the Grand Line." For a split second, a wave of silent coolness went pass, following Zoro's warning. But then it was gone as quick as it came.

"Cook! When is breakfast going to be ready?!"

"It'll be done when it's done shitty swordsman," yelled Sanji through the closed kitchen doors.

For about an hour or so, the inhabitances of the Going Merry waited for the last crew member to show up. During this time, villagers came to the docks and waited to see the pirates off and to say last goodbyes to Nami.

"Uhh, when is she going to get here," sighed Usopp, ready to get back to sea. Luffy, who was currently sitting with the tangerine trees planted yesterday, sighed in boredom as well. The lack of excitement was kinda like going through withdraw, considering it had been mostly action since setting off to sea.

"Luffy! Use your Haki to see if she is on the move!"

The captain chuckled a bit. "Why don't you try using it?"

This actually got Zoro to come out of his nap and look down from the crow's nest and Sanji to perk up in the kitchen. Had Usopp already unlocked the move and surpassed them? Usopp on the other hand threw his hands up in exasperation.

"You say that every time I ask you to search for something with Haki. You know I can't use it!" Zoro and Sanji gave out a collective sigh of relief and went back to doing their respective activities. Luffy stood up and jumped to the deck next to where Usopp was standing.

"Shishishi, don't worry Usopp, she's on her way right now. See?"

The sniper turned towards the island again and squinted his eyes and sure enough, a small, fast moving, orange dot appeared in the distance. Didn't look like she had any intention of stopping too. "Why isn't she-"

"Open the sails! Open the sails!"

Luffy grinned and went to work pulling up the anchor and opening the sail, Zoro and Usopp helping as well. The small crowd suddenly became a buzz with "we have to thank you" and "she left the money!" As the girl came closer, some of the people attempted to stop her, but none succeeded. Then, at the end of the docks, she leaped impressively high and landed on the rail. Without turning around, Nami slowly lifted her shirt until it was at the top of her stomach, surprising her crewmembers and the ones in the crowd. This also happened to be the moment that Sanji peaked out kitchen because his pervert sense (type of Observation Haki that allows the user to know when a female within a 3 mile radius is getting undressed) was tingling.

Even more surprising was when a few dozen wallets fell out of the lifted shirt, causing everyone present to check their pockets. Realizing it was indeed their wallets having been taken, they began yelling good natured curses at her until the ship was too far away. It was only after the rush of adrenaline that hunger began to set in the young navigator and she asked if breakfast was ready. Amazingly, breakfast miraculously was done when Nami asked, despite it not being done when Usopp asked two minutes ago.

On the way to the door that led to the kitchen/dining area, Nami slowed and waited for Luffy to pass by. As soon as she was behind him, the orange haired girl removed his straw hat from her head and placed it on his own. Then she placed a quick kiss on his cheek before moving swiftly through the doorway.

Seeing that no one had seen, Luffy decided to act like that didn't just happen and walked in with a neutral face and took his place at the table beside Zoro and facing Usopp. Looking to the left hand corner, he noticed that Nami was still fighting back a blush from her pervious actions. Seemed like no one noticed that so whatever for now. Thinking objectively, there actually might be a problem if the others found out about this. If an argument ever broke out and he took Nami's side for logical reasons, they could say she was getting special treatment. More thought was needed.

Looking down, it appeared as if breakfast had been served. A seafood curry on top of rice, assorted sandwiches, bean sprouts, other veggies, and several types off meat. Sanji sure knew how to deliver when it came to meals. However, just as Luffy was about to inhale what was currently in front of him, Zoro asked a question that had been on everyone's mind.

"So captain, where are we headed to next?"

"We have nothing else to do in the East Blue, so I say that we head to the Grand Line from here."

Usopp butted in the conversation. "But don't we need to stock up on supplies? We won't really know what to expect in terms of places to buy things in the Grand Line."

Zoro nodded. "I also need to buy two more swords."

Nami put in her two cents. "And I need more map making materials."

Luffy scratched the back of his head knowing they were right. It was just he didn't really want to stop for discomfort in seeing a certain man. Sanji, having heard the story already, knew why the captain probably wouldn't want to head over to Loguetown. Leaving the East Blue would probably get a whole lot harder.

"You're right guys. There is no way around going to Loguetown before heading for the Grand Line. However, I want all of you to be cautious of the surroundings once we get there."

"Why," asked Usopp, a little scared now.

"Because of a certain Marine who knows my face. The Navy Captain Smoker."

* * *

 **A/N:** I promise that next chapter will be more eventful and probably super long. I sure hope Zoro's warning isn't foreshadowing… Also to clear something up right now, Luffy isn't afraid of Smoker, so don't think that is the reason to want to avoid him.

Also, can anyone guess what Luffy's starting bounty will be?

 **Next Chapter: Sanji, Smoker, and Samurai part 3**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:** This isn't part 3 like I promised. I noticed I finally hit 500 follows and decided to do something special.

While writing this fic, I kept asking myself what the first bounty hunters Luffy meets should be. To get inspiration I watched some anime. In all honestly, I've always thought this certain bounty hunting group would be epic in One Piece, so I basically just crossed them over in here. I'm sure everyone will know where the characters came from. If you don't, then you probably haven't watched anime.

Oh, some of you are still wondering about the LuffyxNami when this fic is LuffyxRobin. Well if you read my other story you know I'm evil and enjoys to write angst. Put two and two together. There was also Zoro's foreshadowing…

Ok, let's catch up on what Ace is doing.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own One Piece. Duh.

* * *

A tall, rather handsome man walked into a bar and immediately drew the side glance of everyone in the establishment. The man tilted his orange hat lower so as to shadow his eyes and proceeded into the bar in search of a decent drink. This…pirate currently had a black over coat on rather than his usual shirtless attire because the tattoos which covered his back would have caused a panic. The coat was also because this certain bar happened to be on a winter island and going shirtless probably wouldn't have been the best plan anyway. Cold didn't particularly bother him, the winters at his home island were pretty harsh, and his devil fruit kept him warm most of the though.

The pirate sat down and waved the bar tender over. "Bar keep, one round of whisky please." The bar keeper nodded and went to fetch some from the back. During this time, the patrons still hadn't taken their eyes off the new customer. They didn't get many new comers here, what with this being a bar, in a terrible winter island, in the New World. Didn't really scream tourist attraction. Of course pirate crews would blow in every now and then or Navy crews, but this man had no crew to be spoken of. As they puzzled this, another stranger walked in wearing a blue suit, yellow dress shirt, and a black tie to finish the look. His hair was sort of a greenish tint and was extremely untamed. It was currently snowing so hard that one couldn't see a foot in front of them, so the fact this new man had a lit cigarette hanging from his lips was both incredible and disturbing. He too went and sat at the bar next to the other new comer.

By this time the bar keeper had come back with whisky and placed it on the counter. The suit wearing stranger waited until the old bar keeper to finish pouring the brown liquid into a shot glass before placing an order.

"Would I be wrong to assume this establishment sells food?"

"No, we have a kitchen in the back."

"Great, if you have it I would like green peppers and beef with a bottle of sake." The grey headed bar tender nodded and walked to the back again. Both men sitting at the bar avoided eye contact, rather looking ahead or in the pirate's case, drinking his whisky. It was the man in the suit that broke the silence.

"You want a smoke?"

The freckled pirate chuckled a bit. "My last smoke before death? How very old fashion of you."

"Hehe, you really are something else. What gave me away?"

"A hunch." The suited bounty hunter chuckled a little and lit up a new cigarette.

"You have some damn good hunches. I made sure to stay out of your Observation range so you wouldn't know I was trailing you, had no killing intent, landed on the island one day after you, and you're telling me a hunch blew it? That's pretty funny."

Ace laughed with the bounty hunter that had been after his head, finding humor as well in this situation. "I guess it's just because you cannot hide your strength well. Or at least not from someone as skilled as me. So you going try and capture me anyway?"

The bounty hunter shrugged. "The way I see it, I never actually made a move so my perfect record is still intact. I just happened to be here on vacation and didn't recognize you."

The bar keeper walked up with the food and sake, placing it in from of the infamous bounty hunter. He thanked the man before digging in. Ace waved down the bar keeper and asked for another bottle of whisky and told him that he would be paying for the man beside him. The bar keeper nodded and went to the back again.

"Oi, I don't feel right about me taking generosity from you, let me pay you back."

"Please allow me to, I'm actually happy I met you. This marks the first time I was targeted by bounty hunter since becoming a White Beard pirate. Also the first time a bounty hunter with your reputation attempted to capture me…Spike. So allow me to savor the moment."

Spike smiled and continued to eat. "Glad to see my reputation proceeds me." The pair sat in silence after that until Spike finished eating.

"So what are you doing away from old man White Beards ship? If you don't mind me asking of course."

"Hunting down a murderer. How about you?"

"I was just hanging around the New World waiting for a call form Delta X or a high bounty. Just so happened I spotted you." Ace quirked an eyebrow.

"So even the legendary Bebop crew has to answer to the 5th Yonko huh? That must suck."

Spike shrugged a little and sipped his sake. "Eh, it was either that or retirement. It isn't so bad anyway, we only have to give him 10% cut of everything that comes in from bounties. Hehe, I'm actually short on cash at the moment."

Ace shook his head. "That's ridiculous."

"Is it any more ridiculous than Big Mom demanding sweets from her islands? At least Delta X doesn't give us bounty hunters deadlines or any of that shit. Guy is pretty chill anyway unless you touch any one in his main crew. Big Mom learned that pretty well three years ago."

"Yea I guess. Hey is it true he has Death on his crew?"

"Umm, yea. Don't ask me how he managed that."

A short silence as Spike lit another cigarette to retain any amount of warmth in the drafty bar and Ace took another swig of whisky.

"So you want to fight?"

"Excuse me?"

"A chance at my bounty is what I'm saying. I want to see what a rank S bounty hunter looks like in the heat of battle. Don't want to get rusty or anything."

Spike puffed out a smoke ring. "Ok, why not. Got to say this is the first time my target wagered a dual," spoke Spike as he and Ace got up, paid the tab, and walked outside in the blizzard. After getting to a clearing somewhere in the white out and 3 foot deep snow, Ace activated his flare flare fruit. Immense heat was dispelled in waves around the area, melting the snow and raising the temperature to something more manageable. This created a circle with a 25 yard radius but did nothing to help the fact that neither man could see anything through the snow blind.

"I take it you've been getting around with Observation Haki," asked Ace, which Spike answered in the affirmative. "So have I. Guess we will decide this without eye sight."

"Guess so." Spike pulled a surprisingly modern looking gun from his jacket, resembling a desert eagle instead of a blunderbuss or something more current. _Just another one of the perks that come with working under Delta X._ Aiming in Ace's location, the bounty hunter infused the gun with Haki before firing two rounds at the White Beard pirate.

Ace jumped to the side and rolled out the way, surprised at the speed the bullets came at. Defiantly were faster than he remembered. After, getting back on his feet, he let loose a large column of red fire in Spikes direction. To avoid being roasted on the spot, Spike leaped out the way and returned fire at Ace, which he also avoided. Being a logia was great and everything, but in the sights of an experienced Armament Haki user it was all for not.

Ace hardened his fist and slammed it through the ground. While in the comprised crouched position he was an easy target for the veteran sharpshooter, so he was forced to Armament his whole body and tank the bullets as they came. His defense was higher than most Haki users, so it came as a shock when the hardened bullets damn near broke through his own Haki. Didn't matter, his attack was already in motion.

Spike was currently stationary, firing round after round at Ace's head through the snow blind. _Dang, his Haki is as strong as expected. Why is he just staying there?_ That question was answered when an Observation Haki red flag went off and he jump to the side, narrowly missing an enormous column of fire that came swirling from under the ground. Spike then kicked off the air to miss yet another enormous pillar of fire exploding from below the earth, this time the fringes of his jacket getting licked by flames. Avoiding the next one would be impossible, so instead, while still midair, he positioned his hand to the ground and when the next attack came, activated the dial attached to left hand and absorbed the attack. Then, with an extra 4 seconds, was able to easily dodge the next series of attacks while returning a volley of bullets.

 _He's fast._ Ace removed his hand from the ground and rolled out the way of the next round of hardened bullets. While rolling and occasionally blocking a bullet with Armament Haki, Ace concentrated energy into the tips of his index finger and used his partial awakening causing the finger on his right hand to turn blue.

"Plasma Presentation Pointer!"

A blue laser shot out from Ace's index finger and nearly went through Spike's torso if he didn't abruptly drop to his knees mid sprint and slide under it Matrix style. _Plasma coated in Armament. Have to avoid that at all cost._ The problem with that was that it was like trying to avoid someone shinning the beam of a flashlight or laser pointer on you while being in the same room as them. Damn near impossible. But Spike had done the impossible before. Before he was even done sliding, the bounty hunter propelled himself forward by activating the reject dials built into the sole of his shoes, sending him sliding forward fast enough to avoid the laser coming down where he was a second ago. He tucked and rolled to dissipate the forward momentum before kicking off the ground again to avoid the laser which had followed close behind him, all while sending more bullets Ace's way. Using geppo in combination with the reject dials imbedded into his shoes, Spike was able gain a massive amount of height and avoid the beam of death, but was rewarded with a grave sight. All around him were dozens of small orbs of green lights.

"Firefly Light!"

The area above the battle ground combusted in flames as result of the attack. While using is right hand for the plasma laser beam, Ace had used the left hand for another attack. A clever trick to distract the enemy with one attack while building up another, though he knew it wouldn't be enough to put down a professional like Spike. Case in point, the bounty hunter landed back on the ground with little more than a scratch. Not even that really.

"Wow, almost got me," muttered Spike as he dusted himself off and ducked under the laser again. "Better get serious."

Activating both reject dials at once while using soru, he nearly teleported next to Ace with his increase in speed. An increase Ace had not been expecting. Quickly he used Armament Haki on his head to block the swift horizontal hardened kick to the face, which sent him flying several yards backwards. The loss of focus also caused him to inactivate his awakening power. Unlike say Doffy, Ace had barely learned his Awakening and couldn't control it with ease yet. The young pirate quickly dematerialized into flames, avoiding the three armament hardened bullets hitting where his head, heart, and lungs would have been.

Not allowing him to rematerialize, Spike continued to fire round after deadly round at the sentient ball of flame. If Spike was a normal Haki user, maybe Ace could reform safely. But Spike could see auras as well as anticipate attacks with his Observation, so he knew exactly where to shoot so that Ace could not reform easily. Getting desperate, Ace formed a hand while keeping everything else elemental. The hand was quickly hardened with Haki before it could get shot and blasted a ball of black flames at Spike. He sides stepped the attack, but that extra second gave Ace the second he needed to reform.

The snow had thinned a little at this point to where one could vaguely make out shadows a few feet away. It was still a blizzard however, which is why all of the fire Ace threw around went out after it left his body. So it was a little surreal for Spike to see that the black flames that Ace attacked with see alight behind him as if the snow was kindling.

"So this is the ability I've heard so much about. The Eclipse Flames. I'm happy I was able to push you this far."

Ace smiled, though Spike couldn't see it. "Naw, I just want to end this faster. Got places to be and everything."

The black flames then seemed to move on its own will, attempting to engulf him. Spike moved quicker than the fire could catch him, even though the wall of flames continued to grow. It was almost like the wave of an tsunami, If he got encircled it would be over. Without out any interference of course Spike would be able to dodge the shit out this, but it wouldn't be that simple.

While sprinting forward, Ace also ran to meet Spike head on. Both men coated themselves in full body Haki and clashed. Ace went for a left jab, which Spike side stepped while drawing his gun. Before he could fire though, the bounty hunter was forced to use his reject dials to kick backwards to avoid the black flames touching him.

"Plasma Rifle!" A beam of plasma shot past Spike's grimaced face and hit the ground a few meters away in a massive explosion that rocked the ground and formed a mini mushroom cloud. _Holy crap._ The second beam grazed Spikes shoulder and quite literally burned the Haki off it. Spike Matrix dodged the next three blast as if he was made of fluid while having to geppo to avoid the black flames that almost licked his shoe. As he lifted off the ground however, he came face to face with Ace who was already mid swing into a right hook, which Spike blocked with his left knee. Then Spike activated the dial on his left shoe which rocketed his knee up quickly, connecting it right under Ace's chin. Despite Ace being in full body Haki, the move nearly KO'd him. In fact he was so dazed that he wasn't able to avoid being shot at point blank range with the incredibly powerful pistol 5 times in the chest, penetrating his Haki and throwing him to the ground. Spike landed a few feet away. The black flames dissipated with Ace's lack of Haki control at the moment.

Ace coughed and spit out some blood. "Hehe. That is some weapon you got there."

Spike grinned and walked forward a few steps and aimed the gun at Ace's now head. "Looks like you're in check." Ace's shit eating grin got wider.

"I'd look down buddy."

Spike kept his gun on Ace but did look down to check himself. On his pant leg was the unmistakable small flickering of fire. Black fire. _Damn._ Ace laid his head back, smile never faltering.

"Looks like we are both in check, eh friend."

"Guess so."

Spike, knowing he was in the deeper shit slide the gun back into his jacket and raised his hands. Ace slowly got to his feet and walked toward Spike, not before spitting out more blood. He stopped directly in front of him.

"You know, killing would surely up my reputation, but would leave a bad taste in my mouth." Ace patted the bounty hunter on the shoulder before walking off in the direction he left his skimmer. "Oh, and I wouldn't move if I were you until that flame disappears. It was really an honor to meet you!"

Spike shook his head and muttered some curses under breath as he lit another cigarette. "Damn kids. Getting to old for this shit."

* * *

About an hour later, Spike walked onto the Bebop. Cold, wet, and annoyed. Plopping himself on the couch in the living room in front of the video den den mushi. Well, at least he wasn't dead or anything, so that was a plus. Although maybe Jet would have been glad about that. The thought brought a small grin to his face.

"I see you didn't bring in anything, even though it took you long enough," spoke a women with neck length dark purple hair, that Spike couldn't for the life of him remember inviting her to his crew.

"Oh, you're still here."

The women didn't even acknowledge the response and walked into another room. All of a sudden the video den den mushi flickered to life and began projecting on the wall. An enchanting image of a cloaked emerald eyed women appeared on the wall.

"Oi, Spike, you…you look tired."

"Don't worry about me. What do you want Everglade?"

"Delta X wants you and your crew to head towards the start of the Grand Line ASAP. He guarantees there will be an incoming huge bounty coming from the East Blue."

"Hmm, ok. I'll get on that. Send me the details later." Everglade nodded and cut the feed. Spike got up and headed to the bathroom. _But first, a shower._

* * *

"Devlin, are you sure asking Spike was the right move. His track record is remarkable, but he sometimes gets… sentimental in his work."

Delta X leaned back in a couch and yawed a little. "Do you think we should ask Saitama and Genos then? They are closer anyway."

Jason looked up from the recliner he was resting in. "Didn't they accidently blow up an island and destroy a sky island last time?"

"Yea," spoke Serpico, Delta X's brother, who was resting on a couch opposite to him. "Don't think he can control his power very well. Everyone gets killed in one punch. Hey, I bet he could beat you Roy."

The Reaper was lying in a beanbag, varnishing his scythe. "I'm highly skeptical of that."

A comfortable silence fell across the room that was quickly broken by the ringing of a den den mushi resting on the coffee table next to Serpico. He cleared his voice before picking up the handle. "You have reached the Time Piece Hunters. Serpico speaking."

"Don't give me that BULLSHIT! What did you do to Jack?"

"Oh it's just you Kidou. Yeah he may have attacked us, so we casually sent him to the bottom of the ocean."

"I should kill all of you for this."

"Hey it isn't like we gave him over to the Navy. Also if you want to fight you're welcome to try."

A click was heard and the line went dead. Knowing Kidou, he probably threw the poor den den mushi across the room. Serpico shrugged and set the handle down. With that over, the comfortable silence returned. Everglade plopped into a green beanbag before breaking the silence yet again.

"Do you think he will actually attack?" She didn't ask in fear, more just basic curiosity. Jason laughed at the question from across the room.

"That oversized teddy bear? Naw, he knows that he would lose his whole crew over nothing. Although because he is always committing suicide, he might to pick a fight with Roy over there. What do you say Roy? Will you grant his wish? You've had some history with him anyway."

The hooded figure sighed. "I hold no sort of grudge against him, but if it is a fight he wants, then he's more than welcome to try."

The light hearted conversation slowly devolved into which Yonko they could beat. They agreed that Big Mom would be the easiest because Roy's power directly counters hers, although some of those daughters and sons were a little tough. Kidou would be tougher. Shanks might be the best suited to fight them. And finally…Whitebeard.

"That old geezer," questioned Jason. "Our ship would probably get fucked. We'd probably get fucked to, but I think we could take em. Guy is probably on his way out anyway. What do you think Devlin?"

"Hmm? I think we could kill him given the right circumstances. His crew would be a bitch though. Especially that second commander. But yea, I think we could do it with. Let's not think about all this too much though. The four emperors will fall soon enough and then the Road Poneglyph's will fall into our open hands. Until then though, let's get something to eat. I'm starving."

* * *

 **A/N:** And so the fifth Yonko is revealed. It wouldn't make much sense for the fifth Yonko to be another pirate since Yonko means four. Rather he is a more unofficial power. Oh, and because the bounty hunters are organized under a leader, they will be much more of a threat to Luffy. Especially considering he has taken an interest in the Straw Hat crew. Oh and if any of you caught the Naruto reference in the chapter thanks for being awesome.

Did any of you enjoy the fight between Spike and Ace? Please tell me how much I suck at writing in the comments. Next chapter we return to the main crew. East Blue Arc ends in 5-6 chapters.

One last thing...

THE TIME PIECE HUNTERS TEAM MEMBERS

Delta X (Devlin D. Dracul)

Serpico D. Dracul

Everglade Nimrod

Roy Issac Pierce (R.I.P)

"Big Racket" Jason (Jason Nadal)

If you can guess their abilities by looking at the clues in their names, I salute you.


End file.
